As soon as she was dropped home, Ophelia locked herself in her room. She didn't come out at all the next day and house elves were particularly worried for the kind Gryffindor.
"She's still in her room?" Asked Rabastan as soon as he got home. He was tired and hungry but most of all, he wanted to see his girlfriend.
"Let her be. Weakness is not accepted among Death Eaters." Rodolphus said not caring what was happening with Ophelia.
"How did she do? What was the challenge?" Rabastan asked as he sat opposite his brother.
"A few of our former classmates used legilimency in order to create the illusion of terror. They were supposed to wake up by themselves but dear Ophelia failed. Malfoy woke her up." Bellatrix explained coming to her future husband's side. "How unfortunate. The daughter of the Dark Lord is a weak weasel." She teased with irony.
Rabastan knew that Ophelia was particularly talented in legilimency so the mere thought of her failing at it was just wrong. He got up and walked up to her room. He knocked once but there was no answer.
"Ophelia, it's Rabastan. Don't make me apparate inside." He said very seriously.
After a few moments, the door opened and he met the walking pillow. Her head rose from under it and she looked like she drank the whole day.
"What happened?" He asked following her inside. Ophelia didn't say anything, she just lied back on the bed making her look like a cocoon. Rabastan sat next to her not yet pulling the covers off. "What did you see last night? Did my brother overdo it?"
"Yes." Was her clean answer before she mumbled something incoherent.
"Was it about me?"
There was a moment of silence before she uncovered her head, "Not only about you. It was about Lucius and Severus as well."
Rabastan raised an eyebrow not quite expecting Malfoy to have an effect on her. However he did imagine Severus Snape will be used in her illusion just as much as she was in his.
"It was awful. You appeared telling me that you are staying beside me only because my father ordered you to do so. That's not true, is it?" She asked looking up into his eyes with innocent green eyes. She probably looked like a mirror image of her mother at that moment because Rabastan had never seen Tom so vulnerable.
"No, I don't think he is aware of our relationship. He has been busy forcing pureblooded families into agreeing with his ideas. More and more are taking his side and more and more are dying because of it."
She looked at him carefully and got up, "Do you agree with his propaganda? Do you want to murder innocents for something they don't have power over?" She asked in a monotone voice, making it hard for Rabastan to know what exactly she is thinking or what answer she expects.
"It doesn't matter what I want or what my opinion is. I am just a tool." He replied, again avoiding being honest with her.
"I wish we could elope. We could go to America or Africa," she mumbled looking down at her ring.
"We'd die before taking a step out of this house. He knows everything."
"Does he?" She asked thinking about her father's legilimency skills. "Is he such a talented wizard?"
Rabastan stared at his girlfriend in confusion. He didn't understand what she wanted him to say or do. In any case, Rabastan was in no way ready to abandon his family.
"Is Severus a Death Eater now?" She suddenly changed the subject. "Did he pass?"
"He failed. As far as I know, you were the reason he couldn't wake from the illusion."
"Is that supposed to make me feel proud of my influence?" She asked with amusement. It was a relief that Snape did not make it yet. The former Slytherin chuckled and grabbed her cheeks before planting a kiss on her lips. That was a step forward into making her forget last night.
With how dramatic last night had been, Ophelia was looking forward to the Gryffindor party at Bolg's Head. It was very obvious in her demeanor and house elves were particularly relieved they could finally do their work and enter her room.
"Which one should I wear? Red or black?" She asked herself looking at her reflection.
Ophelia has been staring at herself for maybe half an hour, finding difficult to choose what to wear at the party. That did not happen last night, if anything she just threw on the first thing she touched. But this was different. She was going to meet her friends, her roommates and many more that were just as nice. The simple thought that Rosier was not going to be there was fantastic.
"What do you think...um..." she asked as she turned to the house elf that was changing her sheets. "What's your name if you don't mind me asking?"
The house elf stopped and turned to the young mistress with wide surprised eyes. She gulped and pointed at herself in confusion.
"I?" She asked softly. "Rosie, madam."
Ophelia smiled widely and approached the house elf.
"Which dress do you like better, Rosie?"
Rosie looked stressed. There were two options and whichever she chose could bring her terror. Fear of the wrong suggestion was all over her face.
"Oh, don't be scared. There are no wrong choices. Just give me your honest opinion." Ophelia added in a kind voice.
Rosie nodded and let her eyes wander over the two dresses. In her point of view, the red one was less formal and youthful. It seemed to go on well with Ophelia's green eyes and overall aspect. The black one seemed like something Bellatrix Lestrange would wear. The answer was clear so she pointed at the red one.
"Alright then. Thank you." Ophelia said and changed quickly. Rosie was still a bit shocked that the young witch went along with her choice and even more surprised when Ophelia tried to gift the house elf with clothes.
"Oh my! No, madam doesn't! Rosie is just a slave! Rosie cannot accept gifts, unless they come from master."
"But that may never happen." Ophelia stated, feeling annoyed by the reality of Rosie's future.
"Rosie has already made peace with that. All house elves did." She said almost comforted by the worry coming from this girl.
Seeing how Rosie was done, she left. Ophelia sat on her bed and looked down at her hands. Life was difficult for everyone and yet nobody seemed to bother with the details. House elves deserved more. They deserved to be free.
Bolg's Head was a weird place. It was built at the beginning of the 15th century by a man named George Bolg and it survived the passing of time, more or less. It looked haunted and the rumours were that Bolg was murdered inside his house by decapitation. A few years after his death, his two sons married and sold it. It was in the later centuries when the following contractors started to call it Bolg's Head.
Wizards were calling it Grim's Hollow. Eugene Grimmer bought the house and transformed it into a pub/inn. The place was haunted indeed but the ghosts were very nice and chatty which Mr. Grimmer found appealing.
As soon as Ophelia opened the door, she got stunned. She did not expect loud music and alcohol bottles to go so well together.
"Badge! Finally, I was getting worried!"
James moved so fast through the crowd that Ophelia didn't even close the door fully before he grabbed her and pulled her along. There were many students from all over Hogwarts. No Slytherins but that was expected.
Potter led Ophelia to their table, or at least the table they left their drinks on. Lily and Remus were there talking but once they saw Potter and Ophelia they smiled and waved.
"Look who came at last! Late as always." Potter said and pushed a lonely fire whisky towards her. "Drink up, badge!"
"You shouldn't force her, James. She is old enough to ask what she wants." Lily started in a matter of fact tone. James rolled his eyes and ignored her.
"Let's do it together at 3. One, two and-"
Ophelia emptied the glass by the time he reached two. Potter chuckled and patted her back proudly.
"I genuinely corrupted you, didn't I?" He asked his messy brown hair and blue eyes melting Ophelia's memories of last night.
"Yeah. You did." She admitted to his joy.
As soon as she sat next to Remus, James got lost in the crowd once more. Weirdly enough, they could still hear his voice among the loud chatter and music.
"How's summer been, Ophelia?" Remus asked turning so that Lily could also see her.
"Good. Not bad. It passed very fast, I feel like I didn't do half of what I wanted to do." She was mainly referring to her new relationship because the rest was as awful as it could be.
"How's Mr. Knowingall? I heard from Severus that he lives with you." Lily asked. It shouldn't be a surprise that Severus talked about her but hearing it, Ophelia grew curious.
"What else did Severus tell you?"
Lily didn't have the time to answer because Potter came back with Pettigrew. Both have drunk quite a bit from the look of it. Peter was flushed and Potter was way to smiley.
"Have you seen Sirius? He caught Louise's eye!" He shouted and started to laugh. "He's right there look!" He turned and pointed on the middle of the dance floor where they were dancing. "That bastard has a lot of luck with girls." He commented with amusement.
"This pub is a lot bigger than I imagined," muttered Ophelia to herself. She couldn't really care about Black's love life when hers was so vulnerable.
"What do you say, Lily? Care for a dance?" James asked surprising the redhead. She opened her mouth to say something but closed it soon after. Afterwards she looked at Remus and Ophelia but one was day dreaming and one was in no way going to interfere. In the end, she had no choice.
"Fine. What could go wrong?"
Oh, James Potter was a box of surprise and many things could happen in a matter of minutes. But a dance was just a dance.
With them gone and Peter swallowing fire whisky as if it was water, Ophelia felt like something was missing. Maybe it was the absence of Sirius around their group (although he was right there) or maybe being there, in her happy place, she wished Rabastan could magically decide to come too. She couldn't help but pout at how unrealistic that was.
"Ophelia! Haven't seen you in a while, glad you could make it!"
She did not expect Goldstein to make an appearance. Looking up at him, Ophelia wondered just how tall he had gotten in three months. His whole face seemed sharper and his hair grew darker.
"Wow," she couldn't help herself say, "Puberty has done you well, Tim."
The blond was unsure how to react to her bluntness so he just laughed it off.
"Thanks. Anyway, I heard we'll have a new professor of Occlumency this year. I miss Knowingall." He said thinking back at how much fun were his lessons.
"I miss him too. Let's keep our fingers crossed for a good future professor." She said with a knowing glint and Goldstein nodded. But he didn't leave.
"Would you...like to dance? Or a drink?" He asked, his cheeks growing a faint pink.
Ophelia blinked. Remus nudged her while laughing to himself but she couldn't quite comprehend the situation.
"I-um-well," she was overcome, "Sure. Yeah, let's do it. Dance, I mean." She jumped off her seat, surprising the blond, and followed him on the dancing ring.
"Ain't that an interesting sight?" Peter muttered in his drunkenness. Remus nodded and watched his friend drop his head on the table, completely intoxicated. Then he turned to Ophelia and smiled.
"And it's all thanks to James." He mumbled knowing he was the reason she crawled out of her shell.
"Are you having fun?" Timothy shouted over the music. She nodded as he twirled her and laughed. "Would you fancy a drink?"
She nodded again and he grabbed her arm and led her to the bar. Once there, he did not let her go.
"Two double fire whiskies," he ordered and turned to the Gryffindor. "I didn't expect you to come, Molley. Whenever I see you, there's a Slytherin close by."
"You look at me a lot, then." She said smirking. Timothy couldn't fight that since he literally gave himself away. "I love messing with them and they'd love to curse me. Too bad they can't."
"They'd get expelled for sure. I'm surprised Mulciber hasn't yet." The blond commented before he gulped down his drink and asked for two more.
"Ha! They'd drop dead before Dumbledore would sign the papers." She said and laughed. Two double whiskies in and gulping down a third and she was a lot more open about who she was and what she was thinking. "You don't mess with me and get away with it." She said in a way that Timothy did not take seriously.
"I know. I saw you duel Zabini and he is the best duelist at Hogwarts." Tim fueled her ego even more.
"After all the harsh training I went through, it's only normal I defeat my opponents in a flash." She said and realized she probably didn't think her answer through. "What are you good at, Tim?"
"Easy. Quidditch." He said and smiled in the same way every Quidditch lover does.
"Are you better than Potter? That boy breathes Quidditch."
Goldstein laughed and nodded, agreeing with her.
"Potter is nuts, yes. I'm going to apply this year for a position in the Ravenclaw team and we'll see on the field."
Ophelia narrowed her eyes at him playfully and patted his cheek before she gulped down two more fire whiskies.
"I'll cheer for you," she mumbled so fast that it was a bit hard to understand her. But he did and blushed once more.
Their chat went on for an hour or so before Ophelia was taken back on the dance floor by none other than James. She was laughing at everything and every shy fiber in her body opened up. She was having fun; simple fun with friends and colleagues and there were no repercussions. It was freeing.
"You're drunk, badge!" Potter shouted and laughed when she stuck out her tongue childishly.
"Wasn't that the point of drinking?" She asked back showing that she still had some type of control over her actions. "Peter is done for the night!" She added noticing Pettigrew sleeping although the music was still very loud.
"Sirius is just starting!" James said turning her towards the stairs where Black was making out with Louise.
Ophelia froze. Potter thought that maybe she felt sick or dizzy. She drank a lot and was still standing but that didn't mean it didn't affect her.
"Let's go out for a fresh breath of air." He said and helped her out.
There was absolutely no one on the street. It looked like it was going to rain soon and the whole atmosphere was weird.
"Are you alright? Do you need water or-"
"Shut up." She ordered placing her hand on his face. He winced but didn't move. "My head is buzzing." She added grabbing her head in pain.
"It's the alcohol. Let's just stay here for a bit and calm down."
It wasn't just the alcohol and she was well aware of that.it felt like someone was trying to enter her mind but they were not advanced enough. Ophelia looked left and right but nobody was on the street except her and Potter.
"Someone is using legilimency on me. They are banging on my mind." She said feeling it ease. They were giving up. "It stopped now."
Potter frowned and took a step closer to her. He took a long look around and placed a hand on her back.
"What are you doing?" She asked seeing how he started caressing her back.
"Protecting you, of course. Gryffindors have each other's backs. Literally."
Ophelia looked up at him and felt safe. James Potter was lazy, proud, manipulative, loud, random at times and overwhelming. His attitude was a problem and he was all around a flawed human being. But James Potter was also kind, he never pressed anybody into changing themselves, he knew what to say and when although everything coming out of his mouth was more or less idiotic. He was a good man, friendly and accepting.
"You really crawled under my skin, you deer." She said since she really caught him wide eyed. The light coming from behind made him resemble a deer even more.
Whatever was his answer he didn't get the chance to speak it out. Ophelia frowned and pushed him away before she threw up.
"Oi, why did you leave?!" An angry Sirius came out barking. Then he saw the sight and his face automatically softened up. "Really, Molley, you never cease to surprise me."
She was throwing up and her whole head was buzzing and yet she could still glare at him.
"Napkins," she ordered when she calmed down. "You can grab some, can't you Black?" She said in a tone she didn't use often.
He went back in and returned with napkins and water but didn't leave. Ophelia looked at him and then she wiped her face. Afterwards she plopped on the pavement and hid her face.
"What are you doing? We already saw you at your worst." Sirius commented, both boys sitting on each of her sides.
"Shut up." She mumbled. "I don't need you anymore, you can leave."
"Last time I checked, I was not working for you. I can very well spend the rest of the night here if I want to." He continued, pissing her off with his attitude.
"Why are you still here then?" She asked looking up.
"Because that's what friends are for."
Ophelia Molley had never felt so shocked in her entire life.
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