The rest of the week was more or less uneventful. Ophelia kept close to the students she knew, luckily for her some of her former Occlumency colleagues chose to stay back and she enjoyed talking to them. As soon as that was over, she'd go around the castle searching for Peverell. It was odd, yes, and it was even worse when people would actually catch her in the act. Filtch caught her twice on Tuesday and warned her that he will hang her up in his office if he were to find her make weird cat noises again. He probably thought it was a prank for his precious Mrs. Norris but Ophelia couldn't care less for that ugly cat.
Friday, 25th, Christmas Day was one interesting day. Nobody died compared to last year (and she was grateful) but Dumbledore called her in his office. As soon as she got in, she met the grey eyes of Lucius Malfoy.
"Am I in trouble?" She asked glancing from one man to the other.
Dumbledore chuckled bemusedly and shook his hand dismissively.
"Not more than usually. But this young man came here today to ask permission to invite you to enjoy the rest of the holidays with him and his family." He said slowly as if to register again what Lucius asked and if he was fine with it, "What say you, Ophelia? It is your choice."
It was visible for anybody that she was meddling into her father's affairs more if she was by herself rather than being with a lesser evil, like Malfoy or Lestrange. Dumbledore saw her eyes sparkle at the invitation and at the way he made it seem like it was alright.
"Can I really go? I'd love to, if I am invited."
"I'm here, aren't I?" Lucius asked rolling his eyes.
Ophelia smiled, having missed his sassy attitude. He might have been a jerk before -he still was if she were to be sincere- but he was a person she trusted, one that she could rely on.
And so it happened. In matter of hours, Ophelia was in the Malfoy Manor, house elves helping her unpack in the room she used last year. It was thrilling to be there now that she knew who her father was but there were also little every day things that she was looking forward to. Like house elves bringing her tea or coming to bring her laundry out of nowhere.
"I wouldn't have invited you if I knew it would make you so happy," Lucius commented from the door. "You always let your door open."
"And you never knock. You and house elves..." she replied thinking of Dobby.
"They are supposed to work in utter silence. They are disciplined to be slaves, not friends." He explained in a cold voice, as if the subject was not worthy of mentioning. "Anyway, have you got it? Are all your questions answered?"
"What do you mean?" She asked, finally placing her last shirt into the drawer.
"The article. I had to search long through my family's library in order to find any mention of an obscurus at Hogwarts."
Her eyes widened and she finally realized why Dobby was so familiar to begin with.
"Blimey, you exploit the little creatures to no end! Poor Dobby!" She exclaimed, before she remembered another detail. Her eyes narrowed at the blond and she added in a hiss, "You ordered him to keep me busy so that I won't get involved into the Peverell hunt. You told him to be creative." She pointed out, her expression growing angry.
But Lucius couldn't bother with her issues. Whenever he did, it would usually place him in an awkward position and he hated the fact that he couldn't even stay mad at her.
"That's in the past. Dobby shouldn't have told you so much, I will take care of him later when you're gone." He said as if that was no big deal, "You're here because your father allows it."
"Oh," she said, suddenly feeling like her impression of young Malfoy was wrong. She was there because of Tom, obviously.
Seeing how her expression saddened he sighed and rolled his eyes.
"Of course, I was getting tired of having to send Dobby whenever I had to tell you something. It's best to have you near when so many things have happened."
That was not kind nor well thought but she took it as a sign that he wanted her there too.
"Anyway, get ready for dinner. The guests will come soon. It's not the Black family but one that recently gained interest in our cause."
"The one about purifying the wizarding society?" She asked as she rolled her eyes sarcastically. Lucius seemed stunned of the words she used to describe it.
"And who said that?" He asked knowing she will never express herself in such an arrogant way.
"Rosier. Tell me he's not going to pop up from the chimney," she said suddenly aware that it may happen for all she knew.
"No. This family is-" he stopped for a good reason. "You'll see." He said before he left her to drown in curiosity.
The Malfoy Manor was just like she remembered, with house elves stumbling over each other in order to please their masters while odd looking wizards would come and go based on whatever they needed. While walking towards the living room, she passed one extremely tall guy with fur over his face, eyes sharp as if he was a cat and fangs that shined in the light as he snickered at her reaction. She stopped and continued to stare at him until he took a right and disappeared from her sight.
"My father won't enjoy seeing you in the same dress as last year." Lucius said in such a quiet voice that it surprised the young girl. She jumped and needed a few seconds to regain her calm.
"Don't sneak up on me. You're lucky I didn't fry you," she mumbled, re-arranging her hair. She did try to look as elegant as she could by herself for this dinner.
"You're also lucky that this family hasn't seen you before. At least, not all of them."
"What do you mean?" She asked as they descended the stairs.
The doorbell rung, just like last Christmas, and an overworked house elf answered. Ophelia waited with anticipation for whoever they were to unveil their identity. Two adults entered, that was fine, and then their only child followed and Ophelia couldn't help but gasp.
"Cissney?!" She asked a lot louder than intended.
The shock of having popular, student council representative, Zabini lover Cissney Littlewood in the Malfoy Manor was hard to process. Ophelia couldn't stop herself from gawking at how her parents seemed to fit so well with the Malfoys.
"I'm glad you finally understand the reasons behind what the Dark Lord intends to do. The purebloods at the ministry are too narrow minded to imagine such a sight." Mr. Malfoy started as they finished their dessert. "Of course, they will open their eyes soon."
Ophelia rolled her eyes with an ironic expression, drawing Mrs. Littlewood's attention. Cissney was fidgeting next to her mother, trying to be as invisible as possible.
"I'm honoured to have been invited today, Malfoy. I assure you, I will talk to my acquaintances at the ministry and get them to join us." Mr. Littlewood said with a content smile which made Malfoy gleam with satisfaction.
"Would you like to have tea in my office? We have much to discuss."
"Muggles to murder..." Ophelia muttered, receiving a wide eyed look from Cissney and a punch in the arm from Lucius.
"Behave," he whispered although he didn't seem like he was annoyed. "Wait until my father is out of sight and then you can do whatever you want." He added, urging her to get up when the adults rose.
While the parents walked in the back of the hall, chatting bemusedly about this and that, Ophelia turned to the girl that looked so out of place.
"What in Merlin's beard, Cissney!?"
Ophelia couldn't bother with noise anymore, knowing that as long as she wasn't attacking anybody the parents won't hear a thing.
"I can ask you the same thing! What are you doing here? With him, out of everybody at Hogwarts! I thought you stayed behind at school this break." Cissney started, using her scolding tone.
"It was unexpected. I just arrived today." She defended herself. "Lucius and I, we are-" Ophelia stopped and glanced at the boy. He seemed to be curious what she believed their relationship was like. "We are...friends."
Cissney crossed her arms in front of her chest and nodded skeptically.
"Since the Littlewood family has joined the cause, it is not a problem to admit our friendship." Lucius added, one eye on Cissney and one on Ophelia. The latter seemed content with his comment.
"Do you even know what the cause is, Cissney? They want to regain the power and go back to Grindelwald's ideas of exposing the wizarding community. They want to treat muggles and muggle borns like dirt." Ophelia hissed at her friend, her whole appearance shifting into a mirror of her father's pissed off look.
Cissney sighed, terrified from the looks of it.
"I didn't know that. I didn't even know where we were going until I saw the front lawn. I just know my father had terrible years at work and he got tired of it." Cissney explained, not daring looking up at the blond boy. "I do not enjoy being here."
"Good. Blimey, Cissney, I knew you had a soft spot for Slytherins but really...Zabini isn't even involved!"
"How do you know that?"
"We...had a chat in the library. It wasn't about you, it was about something completely different, connected to our duel."
"You dueled Zabini?" Lucius asked, sitting on the couch nonchalantly. "Who won?"
"Nobody." Cissney said turning to Ophelia. "That's what the whole school believes, anyway."
"I- right. That's true. We were both on the ground, in pain."
Lucius raised an eyebrow as if asking her if that was true to which Ophelia only gave him an 'I'll tell you later' look.
"Enzo is a lenient Slytherin. He's smart but he doesn't like to risk more than he can gain. It's all a bet with him: either he is interested, or he is not." Lucius explained, meddling into their business out of boredom more than interest.
"I noticed," Ophelia mumbled. But Cissney seemed incredibly disheartened as she listened to Lucius' description.
The blond boy glanced between the two Gryffindors, wondering just how much this dinner will affect them on a long time period and then, when he found nothing else to say to break Cissney's trust in Ophelia even more, he got up, wiping his clothes of any dust that had the chance to get on him.
"Enzo likes girls with secrets. This arrangement may turn to be in your favour too, Littlewood." He said with a proud smirk and walked out, letting the girls talk and ponder on his words.
Cissney's eyes trailed after the blond and rested on the door after he closed it behind himself. She has liked Zabini for a long time now and she knew he never looked twice at her. Now, she heard that her house mate had a chat with him after their duel and she started to feel very self aware. Turning to look at Ophelia, Cissney realized that what was once a sour grape, boring and secretive girl was growing into a sociable, likeable, secretive young lady.
"How did you get here, Ophelia? I know you were tutored by Rabastan in Potions but I never imagined you with Malfoy." She asked feeling like there was so much she didn't know.
"I never said Slytherins are bad. Everyone knows I'm good friends with Severus and Regulus."
"That doesn't answer my questions!"
Cissney couldn't believe just how many things were happening that she didn't know about. She was aware of everything at Hogwarts but not once did she imagine in her wildest dreams that Ophelia would be involved with Malfoy.
"I got to know Lucius in school and we somehow became close...hopefully. He gained my trust and I hope I gained his too. We continued to talk even after he graduated. That's it."
"But the Malfoys are famous for discriminating against muggle born and half bloods. Are you really a pureblood?" Cissney asked checking Ophelia from head to toe.
"Seems so. My birth mother was a witch and my birth father is...an interesting individual." She said having a quick flash of Tom's face.
"Why don't you tell Mulciber that? He always mutters curses at you."
"Mulciber is all words and no action. Recently I've been more careful around Rosier. He creeps me out." Ophelia admitted remembering Zabini's piece of advice.
Cissney frowned as she seemed to think about something.
"I witnessed Evan fighting with Katie once and he looked ready to slap her. If he is a danger to his sister than he is definitely a danger to Gryffindors."
"Have you been extra careful to them because they hang around Zabini? Or did it just happen?" Ophelia asked already receiving the answer by looking at her blushing cheeks.
"Anyway, Rosier is not a Slytherin you can befriend. There are so many rumours around the school about him and what he does in and out of Hogwarts. He is just as bad as Rodolphus." She replied shuddering at what she heard.
The rest of the evening passed well, with Cissney keeping close to Ophelia while house elves came to bring them biscuits and tea. One of them was Dobby, his big eyes staring at the girls with so much intensity that Cissney couldn't even eat.
"Dobby, is there something you want to say?" Ophelia asked seeing how most elves left yet not him.
"...no," he said after he thought a bit about the circumstances. He glanced at the tray of cookies, then up at Cissney and then he left.
"That is the weirdest house elf I had ever seen. He seems so unlike his kind."
"What do you mean? Because he seems to be more confident in his own decisions?"
"That's the thing, Pheli. House elves have been treated like slaves for generations. They do not have opinions and they do not trust themselves. They have to trust their masters and that's it." Cissney explained knowing Ophelia disliked the truth. "We never had house elves but old families like Malfoy, Black or Lestrange cannot imagine their households empty. It's the reality we're living in."
"So what? You think Dobby is in danger?" It was stupid of her to ask that after Lucius said himself that he will punish the elf for chatting with her. At a second thought, maybe she could free him too.
"I know that look! Don't try to help him or else Malfoy will throw you in the dungeons. I'm sure he has one, somewhere."
It was so odd to have this type of conversation with Cissney. She seemed so genuine in caring for Ophelia's safety even if she didn't know half of what was actually going on. But they have slept in the same dormitory for four years and that had to mean something, or at least that was what Ophelia wanted to believe.
"Listen, Cissney, my mother believed and helped this Dark Lord before. She gave him her life and when she realized what he was doing was terrible, she tried to leave. But that's not possible, Cissney. Once you become a follower, you can never go back to a normal life. Mum died because of him." Ophelia explained, moving closer to her friend, "Promise me that you won't go along with your father's decision. There's no need for you to be in such surroundings."
"What about you? You can?"
Hearing Ophelia's plead, Cissney felt like the girl didn't know who she was talking to. Cissney was not absent minded and she wasn't foolish.
"You know, I have no idea what you have been doing these four years to lead you here. But we are the same age, I have enough life experience and brains to know what choice is good for my future." She said her tone rising as her anger became poignant.
"I didn't want to sound proud. I just want you to be happy." Ophelia retreated into a soft and meek attitude.
The rest of the time was spent in silence. The door cracked open enough for a house elf to peek inside but there was nothing to be wary of. As soon as Mr. and Mrs. Littlewood returned, Cissney got up and reasoned that they still have to visit her aunt so they should leave. They did, Malfoy already setting another meeting with Mr. Littlewood.
"I hope you have been more than gallant with Mr. Littlewood's daughter," Mr. Malfoy mumbled grumpily, his mask breaking once the guests left.
"Of course, your majesty. Anything for you," she replied knowing it will annoy him. He scoffed and glared at her but that was all. Mrs. Malfoy was already down in the kitchen complaining about the food and Lucius was probably still upstairs.
Walking aimlessly around, she found him in the library reading what she imagined was a book about dark arts.
"Dobby's been watching me closely today. Did you really think I would get mad and curse my house mate?"
"No. But an angry teenage girl can be dangerous when she hears that her friend has spoken to her crush more than she did." He answered not taking his eyes off the book.
Ophelia sighed heavily as if the world just crashed on her back. She didn't think about jealousy because there was nothing to be jealous about. Everyone knew Cissney liked Zabini so there was no reason why she would interfere. She only talked to him because of Potter so he should take half the blame.
Having nothing to do, she just looked around which brought her in front of an old tales book. She had it too, only hers was well kept unlike this.
"Hey, Lucius, are we really friends? Or are you keeping me safe for a later sacrifice?" She asked, only partially being sarcastic.
"Who knows? You didn't save my life yet so I didn't get anything for babysitting you. If anything, you bring me more problems." He answered from his seat.
"What will happen to the kids that want to become Death Eaters? What if they lose their identities and become like house elves?" She added feeling a knot form in her stomach at such a dreary future.
"If they follow the Dark Lord and submit to his power, they will live a prosperous life. But if not, if they think even for a moment that they cannot continue, they will be getting rid of."
"He'll kill them?" She asked fearing for her Slytherin friends.
"No. He will torture them in ways you cannot imagine and then, maybe kill them. A broken soul is worse than a dead body."
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