The beginning of the new school year was different. Although there was still excitement for the new lectures and seeing friends again, it was also about the safety everybody felt in Hogwarts. Parents were especially happy knowing that their children are well attended under the eyes of Albus Dumbledore.
Ophelia arrived at the platform with Black and Potter and that thanks to Dylis who easily apparated at King's Cross. It was better to not involve James' parents who at the moment had two more teenagers to worry about.
"Dylis, stay with the Potters for the time being, alright? It's better not to go to Spinnard's Cottage considering more Death Eaters will probably watch it." Ophelia said before getting on the train. Dylis nodded and to his surprise, Ophelia hugged him tightly. "Be safe."
Sirius and James watched with worry as the house elf could barely get out of her grasp.
"He's not a child, you know. He's probably a lot stronger than us." Sirius commented once Dylis left. "We should worry about ourselves right now. It's gonna be a long year."
James couldn't even joke about it because he was certain that friendships at Hogwarts will end like crazy. His eyes landed on Ophelia and he couldn't help feel like she was particularly in a bad situation. Especially after the party...
There were a lot of questions about how Slytherins could appear uninvited and break a party that many were looking forward to. But that was because against all odds, students wanted to keep the appearance of normality so they kept the same date and hour.
Sirius was outside, talking to a girl when he felt this dread flood him. He wasn't sure exactly why because the streets were silent. But then he saw him. It was the same house elf that petrified Katie at Christmas.
"What are you-"
"Misses has to leave. Slytherins are coming, sir. Young Rosier is especially eager to catch misses. And master told Dobby to have young mister Sirius leave with her." Dobby said feeling incredibly scared. His doey eyes grew wide as he suddenly turned to look to their right. "Quickly, sir. They are almost here." He added and disapparated with a pop.
The girl was standing there, confused by everything she witnessed. But Sirius abandoned every other plan and went straight for his friend.
Rabastan was there because of Bellatrix more than anything. She insisted on coming with them because she wanted to see the horror in Babbity's eyes. To her misfortune, Ophelia was not there. Rabastan would have lied if he said he wasn't relieved. But then he noticed green eyes watching from one window and Sirius' unmistakable dark locks. He did move in order to cover for them but it wasn't him that drew Evan's attention.
"I think you have already spent too long in here, Evan. You should leave." Potter said his eyes narrowed in a fierce glare.
"My, my, you grew some courage Potter. Want me to break it for you? Right here under the eyes of your friends." Evan said already drawing his wand from inside his jacket.
"You're a fool to believe that we'd all stand aside and watch." Frank said, still remembering the numerous times he was bullied by Rosier.
Bellatrix seemed to be especially entertained because she crawled to Frank like a serpent and grabbed him by his neck quite forcefully.
"Aren't you brave, Longbottom. But how are your parents? Your mother and grandmother are living all by themselves, hm? I can only imagine what could happen one night."
Frank gritted his teeth and was ready to curse her but somebody else kept him from using magic. It was Alice and she looked terrified but also didn't want to give Bellatrix the satisfaction of getting expelled for nothing.
Katie seemed to be looking everywhere for one familiar face but she couldn't find it. Instead, she noticed how content Rabastan was with the outcome and she suddenly grew angry.
"You're all very joyful for a group that hangs out with the daughter of Lord Voldemort!" She exclaimed making everyone in the room freeze. She noticed Rabastan tensed and was giving her looks to shut up. "Don't you know already? The rumor that went around last year was not a lie."
Lily was right next to James and she saw how he started to tremble in anger. He was ready to lash out but his expression was one of somebody who didn't know what to do.
Katie now had the attention of the whole pub.
"The Dark Lord's daughter is-"
Katie stopped, not because she wanted to but because she was forced. To their surprise, it was calm and collected Remus Lupin that rose and interfered.
"We don't want to know. Whatever you want to share, keep it to yourself. If that's all, feel free to leave. This party is over anyway." He spoke so eloquently and was so done with the whole fiasco that he just wanted to go home and sleep. The fact that he was still tired from two nights ago only made him crankier.
Katie was taken aback mostly because she wasn't expecting Lupin to be the one to take the stand. Evan glanced at Potter before he threw a quick look at Remus. Both of them seemed to be more worried about the information rather than being tormented by Death Eaters.
"Surprising encouragement seeing how you are another dangerous factor in Hogwarts, Lupin. Weren't you bitten by Greyback when you were a child?" Bellatrix spoke still walking through students, making them shudder with her gaze alone. "Imagine going out for a midnight walk and suddenly you are attacked by a werewolf." She said widening her eyes as she said the last word.
Remus froze as if suddenly he was woken up from his daze. All eyes turned on him and he realized his secret was now out into the world.
"What are you talking about? There is nothing such as a werewolf at Hogwarts. If anything, there must be a low number of these creatures in the Forbidden Forest." Lily said making the rest of the students nod to each other.
Bellatrix chuckled and intention on grabbing Lily by her hair, much like she used to do to Ophelia. Thankfully, James jumped in her face and pointed his wand at her.
"Leave now. I don't care if I get expelled for cursing you. I'd even be quite happy with myself." He said his tone and attitude resembling the one of Spinnard, to his own surprise.
"Leave it, Bella. Our business here is done. Let's return home." Rabastan announced in a commanding tone.
On his way out, Potter and Rabastan locked eyes and for a second, there was a mutual understanding between the two men.
When James arrived home it was almost sunrise. Sirius and Ophelia were already there, asleep on the couch. The sight was the same as when she first arrived at his house, crying and scared. He sighed heavily and went up into his room. Slytherins were getting witty and shameless.
Now that they were all together in their own compartment, they couldn't even look at each other. James, Sirius and Peter were sitting on one side while Ophelia and Remus were on the other one.
"What will we do now?" Remus asked thinking hard about the Order and his own secret. "They know about me. They will probably start throwing odd jokes around but students will eventually get curious."
"I'm sorry." Ophelia said looking down at her lap.
"Don't be silly, it's not your fault." Remus said scooting closer. "I was already so fed up with my own issue that I just couldn't hold it in anymore. I should have just stayed quiet. Or even better, I shouldn't have gone to the party."
Ophelia glanced at Sirius before she decided on what to do next. It was better for Peter and Remus to find out from her rather than someone like Katie who could easily exaggerate.
"You stopped Katie from saying who is this daughter of Voldemort." Ophelia continued in a quiet voice.
"Come on, she was just messing with us. A wizard like that can never think of having a child." Peter replied with a roll of his eyes.
James' eyes widened while Sirius leaned back with a poker face. Remus raised an eyebrow at his friends' reactions.
"You believe it?" He asked still not quite understanding their silence.
"It's me." Ophelia finally said looking at Remus. "I'm his daughter."
There was a moment in which Remus had a quick flashback of all the times he spent with Ophelia. Never once did he ever get the impression that she had any type of relation to someone so evil. There were moments when he couldn't understand her, when it seemed like she had secrets but so did he. It was just...so hard to believe.
"...can you say that again?" Peter asked leaning closer although he looked scared. "What-"
"His real name is Tom Marvolo Riddle. He killed my mother because she didn't want me to be raised around him. I was not born out of love but out of need, I guess. The need for a continuation of his bloodline." She explained the bases, not getting into how complicated her family was.
Remus blinked several times. Peter got up and rushed out of the cabin, feeling this sudden need to vomit. But Remus just stood there as if he was petrified.
"Mate, are you alright?" James asked changing his seat so that he was next to Remus.
"Is that why you were so angry when Rosier mentioned this subject? How long have you known for?" Remus asked one of his best friends.
"This summer. Ophelia has been staying over my place since, well, stuff happened." James said sensing the atmosphere grow really tense.
"Did you know too? Is that why you left with her?"
Sirius bit his lip and nodded.
"I see..." he said visibly getting angry. "So after finding out the truth about me, you wanted me to trust you but you didn't trust me with this huge information."
"I found out about your problem by chance. I knew how much it meant for you to keep it a secret so I did."
"I am a werewolf, Ophelia. I could easily understand something that it is out of our control. It's not like you chose your father." He added his tone rising in volume.
"So it doesn't bother you? Don't you resent me?" She asked feeling hopeful.
"I do resent you because you didn't trust me enough to tell me this. And you two! You two knew and kept me in the dark. Friends shouldn't have secrets, especially of this gravity and especially not during these times." He said, got up and also left.
Ophelia stood seated, staring at the door in shock.
"I told you nobody will hate you." Sirius said disrupting the silence. James and Ophelia turned to him with judging stares.
They were in the train for two hours already and only Peter returned to their compartment. He spent the time hiding behind a book about Quidditch but Ophelia could see him glance at her now and then. Remus, however, did not return and Sirius was being fed up with it.
"I'll go find him and have a nice chat with him." He started getting up.
"No, no, I'll go! It's better if I do it since it is my fault. I want to test how many people know about me too." She said growing some courage while waiting for her friend.
As soon as she stepped outside, she heard the students speaking about very different subjects than those she expected. No one seemed to know what happened at Grim's Hollow, no one with the exception of the people in the Order which were spread all over the train. With a deep breath in and a lot of dark scenarios already created in her head, she went to search for Remus.
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