Meeting with the Princess (Ophelia)

[Tyler Parsons]

Tyler had been itching to see Ophelia again. Ever since the night in the library, she had been on his mind. Even when she wasn't there she was distracting.

He sent Ophelia an owl to ask her to meet him right outside the Great Hall. Tyler was nervous when he wrote the note, but he quickly sent it off before he tried to talk himself out of it.

Close to the time he said that he would meet her, Tyler walked down toward the Great Hall. He was more nervous now than writing the note, but he made sure that he covered that up and put on his usual calm look as he leaned against the wall and waited for her.

[Ophelia Burke]

Ophelia was beside herself with excitement when she received the owl from Tyler. She had spent most of the day getting herself ready. She tried on just about every item of clothing she owned before settling on a fuzzy pink sweater and a long, straight skirt. She didn't usually wear pants, and jeans were just too muggle for her tastes.

Then she spent several hours fixing her hair, so that the curls fell just right. Finally, she put on just enough makeup to look like she wasn't wearing any makeup, and added her best jewelry.

At last she was satisfied with her appearance, and she twirled around in front of the mirror for a few minutes before finally going downstairs to meet with Tyler. Although she wanted to run, such behavior was not dignified, so she walked carefully down until she saw him just ahead of her.

She broke into a smile. "Hi, Tyler," she said simply.

[Tyler Parsons]

He kept glancing toward the stairs to see if she was coming down. Thoughts were running through his head as he fixed of of his sleeves on his shirt. The last time he looked up, he saw her coming down the stairs. There were not enough words to describe what she looked like. Tyler was speechless until she spoke.

Tyler continued to lean against the wall and a crooked smile spread across his face. "Hello Ace," he greeted. "Glad to see you made it."

[Ophelia Burke]

Ophelia pretended to look annoyed at the nickname. "Are you still calling me that?" she said, her hands perched on her hips. "And anyway, you were just lucky that I happened to not be busy right now, so I could meet you. I am a very busy and important person, you know."

But despite her teasing words, she couldn't deny that her heart beat a little faster at the sight of him. He was even cuter than she remembered.

"So what did you want?"

[Tyler Parsons]

"Of course I'm still calling you that. That name is going to stick with you sweetheart." Tyler gave a wink. He put a hand to his heart. "Well, I do feel special that you could make time to come meet me even though your schedule is so busy." There was teasing in his voice.

Whenever she asked what he wanted, he rubbed the back of his head shyly. "I just wanted to hang out for a little bit if you had time."

[Ophelia Burke]

Ophelia smirked. "Well, honestly, I much prefer 'sweetheart,' she replied primly.

She wanted to squeal and throw her arms around him, but she forced herself to hold back. Such behavior certainly would not be appropriate. But the little daydream she'd had of him kept coming to her mind and it made her blush.

"A Burke does not *hang out*," she replied in a tone of exaggerated importance. "But I suppose if you wanted to walk somewhere and talk, we could do that. I have a little time, I think."

[Tyler Parsons]

"Ace it is," Tyler said teasingly. Of course, he wouldn't always call her Ace, 'Sweetheart' would now be added into the mix but for most of the time he would call her by her first nickname.

"Oh," he said. "So, the long term of hanging out is what I'll call it from now on." He gave her a wink and stood away from the wall. Tyler offered her his arm. "We can walk and talk, then we could have dinner if you would like."

[Ophelia Burke]

"You are just impossible," Ophelia declared, her hand still perched on her hip. But she didn't protest as much as she really would have if the nickname really bothered her. Still, she couldn't admit to liking it, either.

She pretended to be considering whether she really wanted to take his arm. "Well, I guess that sounds OK," she said, smiling and linking her arm with his. "Where shall we walk to?"

[Tyler Parsons]

Tyler grinned. "And that is why I think you like me Sweetheart." He held back his laughter although his eyes danced with it.

As she pretended to decide if she was going to take his arm or not, he frowned playfully. "I promise I don't bite." Once their arms were linked, Tyler smiled. "Where to walk to? Hm. Neither of us have our jackets so walking outside I don't think is a very good idea, so we'll just walk around the school." He started to lead her toward the stairs and he gave her a sideways glance. "How have you been since the last time I saw you?"

[Ophelia Burke]

"Who said I liked you?" Ophelia said teasingly. "You're really quite uncouth, and not at all the type of person I usually talk to. I'm only here because spending time with you is beter than sitting with my sisters in the library."

Then she giggled. "Still, I suppose you're not bad looking." She leaned up on her toes, peering at his face. "And even if you did bite, I don't see any fangs, so it shouldn't hurt too much. So a little stroll around the castle would probably be OK."

[Tyler Parsons]

He gave Ophelia a fake shocked look. "You don't like me? That hurts," he said putting a hand over his heart. "I'm uncouth? I guess I could take that as a compliment. But, I suppose I feel special since you would rather spend time with me than your sisters at the moment. And you know what Ace? You can keep telling yourself that is the only reason you're walking with me right now, but I know differently." Tyler looked at her teasingly.

"Now you should feel special that I'm taking you around the castle. I've never done that with anyone else. And I probably couldn't ask for anyone prettier to walk around with." Tyler gave her a wink.

[Ophelia Burke]

Ophelia smiled sweetly. "Well, that's certainly true," she said, her tone still playful. "I am pretty... and you should be the one to feel special, because I don't just walk around the castle with anyone, either."

Then she leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. "I guess you're not so bad, after all... better than most of the Slytherin boys. They're so full of themselves. And I bet we look good together."

[Tyler Parsons]

Tyler laughed. He liked how Ophelia knew that she was pretty. She wasn't extremely shy, but yet she wasn't full of herself either. "Well, we both should feel special," he said smiling.

He blushed as Ophelia kissed his cheek, but he was still smiling. "I'm nothing like them," Tyler agreed. If he ever made a comment about himself, he would usually be joking, after all he wasn't full of himself. "And I do imagine that we do look good together. After all, anyone who is luckly to have you on their arm probably looks a lot better than what they used to." Tyler was smiling again, but he was being truthful.

[Ophelia Burke]

Ophelia blushed. "Thank you," she said, suddenly feeling humble. She was used to compliments about her looks, and she often even solicited them herself. But when he said it, it felt more like it meant something than it did when other people comlimented her.

AS they walked around the castle, Ophelia smiled to herself. It felt right to her, just walking with him and spending time with him. "So, besides walking around the castle, what else do you like to do for fun?"

[Tyler Parsons]

"For fun? I like to think about a certain pretty girl," he said with a wink. "I like to read, sometimes write a few things. That's about it. Nothing too special. I'm afraid I'm a little boring." Tyler smiled. "But now things had started looking up. I get to spend my free time with a lovely girl who has some kind response to just about everything I say."

Tyler looked to Ophelia. It was amazing how fast she had him in some kind of trance or something. Whatever it was, he didn't want to get out of it.

[Ophelia Burke]

Ophelia beamed. She felt an unusual warmth in her stomach when he looked at her that way, and his words made her blush. "I don't think you're boring at all," she said. "I think you're very interesting. What kinds of things do you write? Will you write me a poem?"

[Tyler Parsons]

"Thank you," he responded. Tyler even blushed a little at her compliment. He didn't really think himself completely boring, but still. Her words made him feel a little better about himself.

"I just write about different things. Sometimes I just write about what I'm thinking about, sometimes its something different." Tyler gave a shrug. "But if you want me to, I will write you poem. I'll owl it to you, or I could wait and give it to you in class."

[Ophelia Burke]

Ophelia beamed. "I would love it if you wrote me a poem," she said.

She liked to hear him talk about writing; it was obviously something that mattered to him. It almost made her feel a little sorry for herself, because she didn't really have anything like that. Her only talent, as far as she could see, was looking pretty. It had never really bothered her before, but now, listening to Tyler, she felt a little inadequate. It was a feeling that she was unaccustomed with. She was used to feeling superior to others, because she was beautiful and came from a rich pureblood family. But now she was wondering just what she had to offer to Tyler.

"Do you want to be a writer when you finish school? Like, work for the Daily Prophet or something?"

[Tyler Parsons]

"Great! I'll start working on it this evening," he said smiling. Writing a poem for Ophelia wouldn't be that hard. In fact, he had already written one about her and it was in his notebook that he kept hidden. He didn't know what he would do if the guys in his dorm found that notebook. He didn't want to be teased about writing it, so he kept it hidden. No one had ever read it.

"I do want to become a writer," said Tyler, "but I'm not sure if I want to write for the Prophet or not. I suppose that it could be fun." He gave a shrug and looked over to her. "What about you Ace? What do you want to do?"

[Ophelia Burke]

Ophelia looked at him, a confused look on her face. In her family, girls weren't expected to "do" anything. It had always been clear that her future would be to get married, have children and manage the household. Yes, her mother worked... but it was clear that it was her choice to do so, and such things were not expected of the Burke girls. She was just supposed to be a little princess. No one expected more of her than that, and so she had never bothered to think of doing anything else.

"I... never really thought about it," she said. "I'm not really good at anything."