The first family to arrive at the Malfoy Manor was Nott, also the family living the furthest. Mr. and Mrs. Malfoy seemed to overflow with politeness and flattery techniques, it was sickening. Nott wasn't impressed so he shifted his attention on something else, for example the girl standing next to Lucius in a black dress, tapping her foot anxiously, in hope the dinner will end as boringly as it begins.
Sensing the heavy and curious gaze falling over her, Ophelia looked at her classmate and couldn't help but smirk bemusedly. She didn't have to enter his mind to know exactly what he was interested about and it seemed he actually got some courage of his own and walked to her.
"What are you doing here, Molley?"
"Spying," she joked, seeing how gullible Nott was when he was by himself. His eyes widened while Lucius tried his best to contain his elegant poker face.
"I wouldn't be surprised if you'd have infiltrated this dinner for that purpose alone."
"She's a guest, just like you." Lucius interfered.
"What will Lestrange say when he sees her?"
"He'll greet me, what else? Haven't you seen how far my relationship with Rabastan has evolved? I may even call him a friend." Ophelia continued to tease Nott, knowing what she said was not entirely false.
Having been let speechless, the young Slytherin retreated to his parents and stuck to his mother like gum. It was slightly funny seeing how much a group meant for Slytherins of high rank. Even Lucius seemed to be far more genuine when not in the presence of Rodolphus or other students.
"He won't let it pass once he returns to Hogwarts," added the blond, leaning against the wall. "As you know already, no one will interfere if you get bullied."
"It's fine. I have friends." She mumbled, turning towards the door when it opened once more.
Ophelia had seen Mr. Lestrange before for brief moments but never for more than a minute. Now, looking up close, he was the more mature and grey haired version of his eldest son. Rabastan looked more like his mother.
"Such a pleasure to see you, Molley." Rodolphus, greeted her just like she pressumed.
Nott was in the dining hall and could not witness the event but he will see more during the meal.
As if nothing was odd with her presence there, Rabastan walked up to her and almost cracked a smile.
"Have you heard? A house elf had left the Lestrange household. He was freed by my parents." The boy started, his eyes glinting.
"How interesting," of course, she was sarcastic. They both knew she heard him refer to her as nothing but a way to get closer to the Dark Lord and that memory won't be forgotten too soon.
"Father was incredibly angry." Rabastan added, looking into her eyes.
"Yeah well, your father doesn't scare me,"
"Bellatrix does. She'll arrive any minute now with the rest of the Blacks. Do you know what that means?"
"Sirius will come too?" the girl asked, knowing that was the main point.
"And what will you tell him? He hates everyone in this house and what they value. How will you make him understand that no matter what blood runs through your veins, you're his friend?"
"Friend is a big word." Ophelia muttered, thinking just how exactly she will approach the problem when it will arrive.
Ophelia waited patiently, looking at the door before turning towards the chimney. She glanced between the two for a few times until she turned to the blond.
"Why are they not using the Floo network?"
"Curtsy. It's one of our values," Lucius explained before three knocks grabbed their attention. Almost everyone was in the dining room except her, Lucius and the elf opening the door.
First to enter were the parents, two pairs in number with the ladies looking like women in history books and the men looking nothing like aristocrats but more like villains in muggle books. Lucius, like the young inheritor of his family, plastered a charming smile and walked towards the two set family.
"Welcome, I'm glad you could make it," Lucius helped every woman that stepped in his entrance hall, being particularly attentive with one of the young girls.
"Cygnus Black and Druella Rosier. They're the parents of the three girls: Bellatrix, Andromeda and Narcissa." Rabastan started, taking the empty spot next to her. "Narcissa and Lucius are supposed to marry after they graduate. As you can see, they both quite like the arrangement." Rabastan added, chuckling to himself.
Narcissa Black was a pretty woman, with an elegance that seemed to draw Ophelia in. Unlike Bellatrix, whom the young girl disliked from every aspect, Narcissa was like a porcelain doll, with big blue eyes and long blonde hair. On the other hand, Bellatrix looked like a bumptious black poodle while Andromeda looked like she wished she was anywhere but there.
The next group made Ophelia take a step back, though she couldn't hide anywhere since she was literally next to the door towards the dining room. Sirius entered prepared to glare at everyone and everything, his expressions set into a scowl for everyone to see his discomfort. Regulus was the boy she had met before, the boy that was being bullied by his housemates because of his older brother.
The first to notice Ophelia was Sirius' mother, whose eyes narrowed at the young witch. The pompous woman turned to her husband and whispered something before she turned to Lucius.
"Why is that girl here? Should we have brought someone as well?"
Ophelia raised an eyebrow, curious what that meant. She wasn't a slave and obviously she wasn't a muggle so then what happened to other someones brought by the families?
"Shall we go in? I'm sure you have many to discuss with the rest." Lucius suavely turned the adults towards the main reason they came and they seemed to follow him silently. There was a problem, though.
"Molley, what in Merlin's beard are you doing here?!" Sirius hissed, grabbing her arm and turning her to look at him.
Rabastan took that as a sign to return to his seat while Regulus took that as a sign to approach the two Gryffindors. His eyes widened when he noticed the resemblance to the girl he ran into at school, his appearance all disheveled at the time.
"I was invited to spend the holidays with the Malfoys," she said the truth, knowing with a family like his, she may as well be the one to tell him the news. "Lucius and I, we're best friends now," she added sarcastically.
"Seriously, have you been brought here by force? Were you petrified and then-"
"I am as much of a guest as you are, Sirius. Why is that so hard to believe?"
"Because you're a Gryffindor."
"You're one too, brother." Regulus interfered seeing how Sirius' grasp on Ophelia's hand was tightening, "Maybe we should go in and see what happens," the boy added, warily watching Ophelia just in case she'd say something on the lines of I-have-seen-you-before.
But Ophelia didn't utter one word once she sat at the table. The arrangement was random yet the heads of the table were distinctly Mr. Malfoy and Mr. Lestrange. To her misfortune, Sirius was standing right across her while she was seated in between Andromeda and Rabastan. With house elves placing food in front of everyone, Ophelia couldn't help but smile at the creature once he was done with her, which seemed to provoke stress for him.
"Don't be nice to them. You know what happened the last time," Rabastan mumbled, standing stiff for the whole time.
Sirius raised an eyebrow, curious just when did Rabastan Lestrange started to speak at the table. Ophelia glanced at Mr. Lestrange for a brief moment, not expecting him to be already looking at her. His eyes were dark and empty of any human emotion, making her shift her whole attention on her plate.
Dinner passed in silence, which didn't seem to be necessary awkward since no one had anything to say. For Ophelia, dinner was odd and boring compared to how much Cerberus and Potter used to talk while eating. Sirius seemed to be thinking about something similar when he suddenly hit her under the table.
What? the girl mouthed but Sirius only shook his head in reply.
Once dinner was done, the adults moved into another room while the children remained free to roam the house on their own. Unfortunately, Lucius and the Lestrange brothers were called to take part in the serious discussion thus letting Ophelia with the Black family members and Nott.
"How did you get invited to this awful place?" Sirius asked as soon as he found the opportunity. "Don't you know what kind of family is Malfoy?"
"I know. But I couldn't deny the invitation. I wanted to see just what is so precious about these old pureblooded families that people are so afraid of." Ophelia paused, remembering what she found out instead, "Let's say the answers I found were more than I expected."
"Aren't you a pureblood? Malfoy would never invite anyone less than pure in his house and Lestrange would have killed you already."
The younger Black brother was very smart and eloquent. Ophelia was pleasantly surprised by his wit as well, especially when her first impression of him was so unfortunate.
"She's not." Sirius answered first, glaring at his brother.
"I am." She surprised the boys, "My parents are both purebloods. My father-" Ophelia stopped and glanced to the side, still seeing Tom's image smiling at her back when they first met. Did he even know she was his daughter back then? Did he approach her with a plan made or did he genuinely cared back then?
"What about your father, Molley?" Sirius pressed onto that subject, seeing how she completely spaced out.
"My father...he's an uncommon man." She said, sighing at the terror she had seen him inflict on others without even being present.
"Don't worry about the little mutt, Sirius. You don't know anything about her." Bellatrix chuckled, her dark eyes shifting on Ophelia, "This poxy is running around danger by herself. All willing to be a Death Eater, aren't you?"
Sirius froze while the rest of the viewers simply tensed. Bellatrix got up and walked towards Ophelia, her dark eyes piercing through every layer of strength Ophelia had.
"Isn't that why you are here, poxy? To beg...your life is so pitiful that once you heard about the Dark Lord and his power, you decided to join him."
Ophelia couldn't even hear what Bellatrix was rambling about. All she could hear was her father's voice, repeating words that were contradicting Bellatrix's.
"You are the one that knows nothing." The young Gryffindor hissed, her eyes sparkling.
Bellatrix glared at the young student and drew her wand, pointing it at Ophelia's nose.
"Do not use such tone with me, wench!" Bellatrix hissed in return, her whole appearance sending a shiver down Nott's back.
But looking at Ophelia, there was something even darker swirling into her eyes. The way she seemed so composed and assured, it felt like she was someone else.
Seeing how Ophelia was anything but scared, Bellatrix screamed Stupefy! but the curse didn't even reach Ophelia but went back onto Bellatrix. The Black member was sent against the wall in the dining room, making a bit of a noise.
"What are you doing here?! We're-"
Mr. Malfoy noticed the way Ophelia was standing and could feel the power ooze off her little form.
"What happened?" Asked Mr. Lestrange walking forward.
"Bellatrix...this girl here just used a curse on my sister!" Narcissa cried, alerting her mother instantly. They both ran to Bellatrix' aid, as well as having Mrs. Malfoy apologize for Ophelia's actions.
"But she doesn't even have a wand." Nott mumbled, having witnessed something new.
Mr. Lestrange walked to Ophelia with what looked to be a scowl. But when the girl turned to him, the stern look in her eyes was an exact copy of Tom's. Mr. Lestrange raised an eyebrow, seemingly pleased.
"It's alright. We can all agree that Miss Bellatrix can overreact at times."
The authoritarian man was famous for being a vile person who would never take anyone's side if there was nothing he could gain. Sirius could only wander what was that he wanted from Ophelia.
Christmas was tiring, and still that was an underestimation. Once Bellatrix got stupefied, the party ended and everyone went home. Ophelia went into her room to calm down. It was odd how right before the curse, she started to hear her father whispering words that seemed to empower her. It happened before, which again made Ophelia feel like her father has been monopolizing her.
She looked up only when she heard knocks against the wooden door. It opened before she could reply and Lucius entered with an amused expression.
"Your name will be thrown through mud for several decades after what you have done tonight." He started, trying his hardest not to show his amusement.
Ophelia groaned and hid her face in the pillow.
"You did it in front of Nott too. He's not exactly a secretive person, nor are his parents. And the Black brothers..."
Lucius was spinning the knife in the wound and Ophelia was growing more and more uncomfortable. She looked at him with a glare and swayed her hand, the boy getting pushed back and door closing in his face.
Seeing how it happened unconsciously, Ophelia gasped and looked at her hands. She couldn't say she was sorry for what she did to Bellatrix, it was funny now that she was thinking about it. The brunette witch chuckled at the memory before she started to laugh loudly, feeling like Bellatrix has been asking for it ever since they first met. The girl leaned back and looked at her serpent ring, feeling a wave of confidence engulf her body.
From the other side of the door, Lucius sighed heavily. She was being pulled into her father's web and it seemed like the man had a lot more influence over her than anyone expected. Well, he couldn't say he was displeased by it but it seemed Mr. Lestrange's interest in the Dark Lord's daughter was growing.
It was a week later when Ophelia was awaken early in the morning by Lucius.
"We have to go. Put this on," he said and handed her a cloak and a mask, both looking like parts of a Halloween costume.
Ophelia had very little time to prepare and once she was done, she followed Lucius into the dining hall where Mr. Malfoy was standing with Mr. Lestrange. Everyone was dressed the same only the elder men looked scarier.
"Where are we going?" she asked Lucius, who in return gave her Floo Powder. He didn't give her a reply but only followed his father into the chimney. It all made sense when she heard Nott Residence. With the two Malfoys gone, she realized she had to travel with Mr. Lestrange and swallowed nervously.
"Are you scared, Ophelia?" the elder asked, glancing at her from the corner of his eye as they stepped into the chimney. "Don't forget, you come to observe."
The Nott Residence was actually somewhere in Southern England, a few miles from Brighton. If anything, it looked like a haunted little village but that was only a cover from muggles. The houses were tall in height and imposing, especially their Gothic architecture.
Waiting for them was Mr. Nott, dressed in the same costume. The men nodded at each other before they walked on the front lawn.
“When will the Dark Lord arrive?” Mr. Lestrange asked, his voice muffled by the mask.
“Soon. I have prepared everything, as instructed.” Mr. Nott answered his tone meek in front of Lestrange.
Seeing how the men were drawing out their wands, Ophelia did the same. She followed them down the street, the light diminishing as they walked to their neighbors. The house seemed as old as Nott’s but not as well maintained. A few windows were broken while half of the house was covered in mold. It smelled rotten and the front lawn was covered in shrubbery.
“It looks awful…” she mumbled, stopping next to Lucius.
“It’ll be worse in a few minutes.”
As if the others heard Lucius, they literally blew up the front gate and they all disappeared as smoke. Ophelia remained all alone on the street after Lucius walked towards the front door and loudly said Bombarda!
It was intense as it was, with smoke engulfing the house and people screaming inside. A few minutes were enough for the Glenmores to run out, towards Ophelia. Mr. Glenmore saw the shorter masked witch and pointed at her.
“You wizards, it’s all your fault! I should have unmasked you earlier! I should have written to the Queen and the Parliament to witness all your errands! Muggles are in danger because of you!”
They were approaching the gate when one of the cloaked men pushed him harshly, making him fall very close to Ophelia’s feet. He got up, stumbling around, probably having a lot of emotions and a slight concussion. With a blurry vision, he caught onto the first thing he found, which was the young witch.
“You’re one of them. If everyone knew about the wizarding world, they could have prepared to destroy all of you. Being magical doesn’t make you immortal,” the old man started, his breath smelling as if he hasn’t brushed his teeth in years.
“You’re a wizard too.” Ophelia couldn’t help but answer to his taunting. “Just because you can’t use magic doesn’t mean you’re not a wizard. Your family members are wizards too. Do you really want them to die?”
It seemed like her words angered the old man even more. His eyes widened and his grip on her cloak tightened. He shook her a bit before he leaned very close to her face.
“You don’t know anything. Dark times are approaching for both muggles and wizards. The difference is that muggles and squibs will have to pay the price for your war.” The man whispered, spitting on her face while talking.
“What are you talking about?” she asked, frowning.
The man started to laugh, showing his rotten teeth. He started to shake her harshly but Ophelia couldn’t find the force to push him away. The man was laughing and crying at the same time like maniac.
“Avada Kedavra!” the same chilling voice of her father screamed as he walked behind her.
Ophelia’s eyes widened as she saw life vanishing from his eyes and laughter die with his soul. The grip on her cloak lessened and the man fell at her feet, eyes wide and empty, body cold and lifeless. Her hands started to tremble as she couldn’t shrug off the image she witnessed. It was so close, so ridiculously traumatizing as she saw the sparkle of life leave his form and death snatched his soul.
“Avada Kedavra!” was heard again and Ophelia saw Mrs. Glenmore on the ground, sprawled on her back with her mouth opened and eyes terrified of the man that murdered her.
Ophelia was speechless. She couldn’t help but let fear crawl up her spine and take over her body. It was so intense, still vivid in her mind, how a person died in front of her. She looked at her father and jolted when he met her eyes. He was content because he showed her exactly what he wanted her to see: his power over life and death.
