The glass shattered louder than expected and many turned their heads to her.
"Are you alright, Kate?" Evan came and checked her hands. "What's wrong?" He asked seeing how pale she was.
"It's-" she stopped and thought carefully about what Bellatrix said. What if she was only messing around, trying to embarrass the Rosiers? No, better keep her mouth shut for now. "It slipped. I was too focused on something else." She lied still staring at Ophelia.
Evan raised an eyebrow and turned towards what his sister was watching.
"Is it Lestrange? Shouldn't he be announcing your engagement already?" He asked with a frown. Rabastan was looking at his partner with an expression that wasn't seen often. He also came and interrupted his chat with Molley, dragged her away before he would curse her.
"No need. He probably didn't get the approval from the Dark Lord." Katie came up with an explanation that she knew may as well be possible.
"Bullocks. This party was supposed to be about us. Now it's about trash and whatever Greyback is." Evan said with a sneer. "If nothing happens we should leave. We have better things to do than this."
"Not yet. Let's enjoy this for another hour, brother."
For the rest of the time, Rabastan seemed to spend a lot of time with Ophelia, to the point they both forgot where they were. Sirius sat next to Zabini and they both stared at the couple with amusement.
"She really doesn't act the same she did on Halloween, does she?" Zabini asked.
"I don't know what you mean," Sirius played innocent.
"Anyone with half a brain knows Molley would never set a girl's hair on fire for nothing. Especially a Ravenclaw's hair whom she never really interracted with before." Zabini added noticing Sirius giving up on his facade. "She doesn't seem scared of Evan anymore."
"I don't think she was ever scared of him but of the idea that he could be right."
Enzo chuckled as he started to notice the way Sirius would every so often glance back at his classmate.
"Do you fancy her?"
Sirius didn't understand the question at first but once he did, he almost started to laugh at that theory.
"I don't know what you believe but Gryffindors are a tight bunch. We take care of each other."
"That's not what I asked." Enzo pressed on. "You don't seem surprised by Rabastan's behaviour either. I guess you knew already." Enzo sighed and leaned back, getting rather comfortable. "Rabastan has been incredibly busy ever since he graduated. I'm sure he does really bad things for his extraordinary Dark Lord and that is keeping him from having a life."
"Is that why you are not interested in being a Death Eater?" Sirius asked realizing that Zabini was actually a good chap.
"No. I just can't be bothered. My plan is to work at the ministry, a desk job preferably. I want a family and a life where I decide what happens next, not someone else."
"This party's definitely been full of unexpected things." Sirius mumbled, not once imagining he'll have such a discussion with a Slytherin.
Bellatrix didn't have to wait for long for Katie to do something. Seeing how there was indeed an arrangement between the Rosiers and Lestranges, Katie was expected to spend time with Rabastan. That was how she started to take him from Ophelia, either to dance or to chat. She was never alone, there was always another with them but she was always touching Rabastan randomly on his arms or back or chest or sometimes even his face. It was unconfortable but he couldn't tell her off. In the end, he had to go to the bathroom, time in which Katie turned to Ophelia.
"I'm sure everyone knows already but I'm glad I'll marry him after graduation. He is a handsome man, a good catch." She started as soon as she sat on the arm chair in front of Ophelia.
"Handsome he is but he lacks in personality." Eileen said, her view over the Lestrange being rather dark. "You should teach him better, Rodolphus."
"He's an adult, he can take of himself."
"You shouldn't start talking about someone when they aren't in the room. I'm sure you can wait until he returns." Ophelia commented.
"I'm actually waiting for you to leave." That was a direct attack that nobody saw coming. Even Regulus felt like backing away, although he wasn't even near the two girls.
"This is getting interesting. I say they fight." Avery mumbled to Igor Karkaroff, a Durmstrang student he had just met.
"But which one wins?" The bulgarian asked, having no idea who the girls were to begin with.
"Molley wins. She is a great duelist." That surprising answer came from Nott. Avery rolled his eyes, already aware of his friend's stupid crush.
"Which one is Molly?" Igor asked to which Nott pointed at her. "Hmm, she looks too calm."
"What do you mean?" Regulus asked approaching the group curiously.
"In my country I learned that if a woman is calm, she is ready to kill. She looks ready to kill." He explained having no idea how right he was.
"I doubt Molley could kill even a fly."
Avery's statement backfired immediately. Ophelia didn't even use her wand when Katie suddenly froze, petrified.
"Well, that's a new sight."
Ophelia did not petrify Katie, her eyes were so full of anger that she wanted to do something that actually hurt. Unknown to her, Dobby and Rosie were watching and hearing the discussion between the two girls Dobby couldn't help himself.
Truthfully, once Katie started the conversation, she felt like she could push Ophelia into doing something that she'd regret later.
"I'm sure you know about the marriage."
"An arrangement for money and power, you mean. Like I told your brother, your family's growing weak so you need to latch onto another. What best option than Lestrange."
"If you want to know, it wasn't our idea. Lord Voldemort proposed this deal in the first place." Katie started with a smirk.
"Is that why you need his approval? That doesn't make sense." Sirius interefered, his hand always on his wand. Since he moved behind Ophelia, Evan moved behind his sister.
"What doesn't make sense is having Molley here, when she should be some place far away with her parents." Katie stopped and looked at her brother in fake surprise. "Oh but they are dead, aren't they?"
Ophelia's eye twitched at the mention of the Molleys.
"How sad, and here you are in an expensive dress with expensive jewelries and who bought them? I'm sure muggles can't leave such a huge inheritence in the wizarding world." Katie added sensing the aura emanated from Ophelia. Now that she knew, she could actually see the resemblance to the man she had only seen twice in her life.
"What about that ring?" Evan asked, having noticed her serpent ring before. "A gift from Lucius?"
"You'd die to know, wouldn't you?" She asked, still controlling herself. "I can manage that. It's not that hard, after all. It would show what a good Death Eater I could be."
Sirius frowned at her words and felt a chill down his spine at the coldness in her voice. Even from behind, Ophelia seemed to be someone else.
"What would your father say then?"
She knew. It was very obvious for Ophelia that Katie Rosier somehow found out. The brunette Gryffindor sat up and so did the Slytherin.
"You should leave." Ophelia said calmly yet glaring daggers at the guest.
Rabastan returned at that particularly bad moment and Katie used that in her favour.
"Oh, Rabastan darling, I'm so glad you are here. I was just telling Molley about our engagement." She said and actually went and grabbed his arm.
Sirius and Severus were nervous. Lucius was confused what he should do because Ophelia was ready to snap. Evan was interested how it will turn up, especially when Katie kissed Rabastan on his cheek, letting a red lip mark behind.
That was the moment Katie froze and fell in Rabastan's arms petrified.
"Alright, well, that was all!" Lucius announced. "Evan, I'll help you with your sister."
The party was over but Ophelia had to leave the room. Rabastan couldn't go after her but luckily, Sirius went to his friend's aid.
He found her not too far, sitting on the stairs. She had taken her shoes off and had her head between her hands.
"Did you really petrify her?"
"No. I wanted to use the cruciatus curse, to be honest."
"M-miss?" Dobby approached the two students, looking rather ashamed of himself. "Was Dobby wrong to help miss?" he asked.
Ophelia looked at the house-elf and smiled.
"Why did you do it?" Sirius asked genuinely curious.
"The look in Misses eyes was the same as the Dark Lord's. Dobby was scared that miss would become like him."
Sirius was kindly surprised and Ophelia was touched. Her anger subsided and she relaxed.
"Thank you, Dobby. You did well." She said. The house elf's eyes brightened and he left with a happy expression.
"Will you tell Malfoy that you didn't do it?" He asked sitting a few steps down from her.
"No. I don't want him to punish Dobby. I want them to know how spontaneous I can be."
"She was egging you on. She wanted you to curse her in front of everyone."
"She will be troublesome at school from now on. More so than her brother, maybe."
"Maybe."
Finally in her room, Ophelia sighed heavily. It was an intense night and she used her whole reserve of patience in order to not hex someone. Two knocks stopped her from falling down on the bed.
"It's me," came Rabastan's voice as he slowly opened the door. He was only in his dress shirt, his blazer forgotten some place downstairs. "Everyone's gone, at last." He announced her before he sat down on the bed. She sat next to him and for a while they didn't utter a word. Ophelia was not even looking at him but she felt his eyes linger on her neck.
"It's a present from my guardian."
His reply was a soft caress of her neck to which she blushed. He chuckled and moved closer.
"Are you alright?" He asked -no, muttered close to her ear. It sounded so low and his breath tickled her ear. "You shouldn't worry about Rosier. There will be no marriage." He continued making her heart flutter.
"It wasn't just about you."
"Yet some of it was."
"Did my father really approve?" She asked silently looking down at her ring.
"I don't think he cares about the Rosiers or even about me. But he does care about you." That explanation was a stretch and Rabastan knew that. He was covering a well thought scheme into nice packing. "I'm surprised you spent so much of tonight with Enzo and Black."
"I thought I should give Severus a break."
Ophelia turned her head so that they were incredibly close to each other. She looked into his eyes and felt herself leaning in. They kissed, but as their lips were dancing together, Rabastan touched her neck, then caressed her collarbone before he used his other hand, the left one, to pull down the zipper of her dress. Once that was done, he let it slide down her arms leaving Ophelia with half of her body naked to his eyes. She blushed profoundly but didn't make any gesture against it. He grabbed her hands and placed them on his shirt to which she took the hint and unbuttoned it. It was the first time she ever touched a man's chest but from that point on, Rabastan took care to fully introduce Ophelia to the world of love-making.
Next morning, bright and early, Ophelia was the first to wake up. Sleeping peacefully on her left was a butt naked Rabastan, which made her smile and blush at the same time. She rolled on her other side and muffled her happiness in the pillow before she turned to him.
"I woke up already." He said opening only one eye. "Are you so happy that you have to cover your face?"
Ophelia laughed and pulled the covers over her head. Rabastan did the same and rolled over her, pinning her underneath.
"I love you." She said staring into his eyes. It came so suddenly that Rabastan's heart melted. "Do my feelings even matter to you?"
"I love you too." He replied, knowing that was what she wanted to hear. And it was the truth, he really loved her but there was that hissing sound in the back of his mind telling him that he was signing his death sentence.
That was the best morning among all mornings of her life. She messed around with her boyfriend as they got ready for the day and even when walking downstairs, they held hands until they entered the dining room. Lucius and Narcissa were there already and so were Mr. and Mrs. Malfoy.
"Rabastan dear, you spent the night here?" Mrs. Malfoy asked as soon as they sat at the table.
"Yes, ma'am." He answered without much detail.
Mr. Malfoy raised an eyebrow at the unmistakably glow around Ophelia, drawing his son's attention.
"I had to apologize to Rosier this morning. His daughter was petrified last night, right here in my house." He spoke as if he already knew whose fault it was. "Have you seen anything, Ophelia?"
"That would have been impossible, sir. Nobody had their wands with them." Rabastan interfered knowing half of the guests were actually armed.
"Then maybe it was one of the house elves?" Mrs. Malfoy asked already fanning herself in anger. "I swear, if one of them did something-"
"They weren't even in the room when it happened. I'm sure whoever casted that spell was very good at unspoken magic." Ophelia took their side, imagining what these people would do to the poor house elves. At the same time, she used a tone and she looked at Mr. Malfoy as if she was talking about herself. He understood that and changed the subject.
"I gave orders to lock all the rooms upstairs before I left. Where did you sleep, Rabastan?"
The two culprits glanced at each other before Ophelia kicked Lucius under the table. He had to be kicked twice in order to finally say something.
"In my room, father. I slept with Narcissa last night."
To their joy, Narcissa played along. The parents seemed content enough with that answer, they even started to speak about grand-children.
Once breakfast was done, Rabastan had to return home. All eyes were on them, literally. Even house elves were taking peeks from around the corner.
"We'll see each other a lot more during the summer break. I'll try and visit Hogsmeade soon too." He said and gave her a quick peck before he left.
"You are really something," Lucius's nagging tone couldn't destroy her good mood. "I can't believe you two. You are digging your own grave and Rabastan's."
"I can't be bothered right now~"
"You should. Voldemort has his eyes on you, even if he is busy enough as it is."
"Can't be bothered." She replied innocently with a shrug.
"You will go back to school and Katie will make it hell. Let's not talk about Evan, who I had to calm down and convince not to burn down my house!" He yelled getting to a point where he got red in the face.
Ophelia felt a bit guilty, only a tiny bit. She placed her hands on his shoulders and squeezed them lightly.
"If he dared threaten you, I would have killed him."
Lucius was stunned. Those words came so easily and she looked so serene while uttering them.
"If anyone will get me killed, that's you."
Ophelia chuckled because she believed it to be a joke but Lucius was genuinely scared of what she will bring upon him.
