As soon as the Hogwarts Express arrived at King's Cross in London, Ophelia looked around for the sign of Dylis. Students were emptying the compartments and yet Ophelia was surveying the station on the window.
"What are we waiting for?" Snape asked, curious what exactly she was thinking.
"It's too crowded and-" she quickly ducked, hiding from whoever walked by outside.
Snape raised an eyebrow and glanced at the moving Gryffindors. Potter and Black looked particularly happy, or that was how it looked in his eyes. And then there was Lily, with Alice and Longbottom, having a bright smile on her face as she met her parents and annoying sister. Severus' expression grew darker immediately. From Ophelia's angle, he looked incredibly bitter.
By the time they got off, the train was almost ready to return to Hogwarts. Luckily, the trolley lady noticed them and ushered them off onto the platform. But even there, Ophelia seemed bothered by something.
"How do we get to Spinnard's Cottage?" Snape asked.
"I...don't know. I usually apparate with Dylis or someone else but I never truly...walked there. It's pretty far from the city as well," She explained, Severus finally understanding why she was so worried. "I wonder if it will work,"
"What?"
"Us apparating by ourselves,"
Snape's eyes widened so much that Ophelia considered if she should feel offended or not.
"Do you have a death wish?"
The voice surprised both teenagers they turned around and saw Rabastan and Zabini staring at them with very different expressions. While Rabastan was worried, Zabini seemed very amused by this interaction.
"Snape might have a chance but you suck at it, Ophelia," Rabastan said making the girl scoff and roll her eyes. "Come on, I'll take you home," he added and waved at Zabini before nudging them forward and disapparating with the two.
As soon as they arrived, Snape looked around and realized something that suddenly made sense.
"We're in the middle of nowhere," he stated seeing nothing but trees and a rundown house in the distance. But then he turned to the cottage and he couldn't help but gape in awe. It wasn't big enough for two people from what it seemed.
"Come on, Snape. Or are you going to spend your summer outside?" Rabastan asked with a grin.
Severus nodded and stepped onto the land, Ophelia and Rabastan watching intently. He was almost by the door when he turned to them with confusion.
"Well? Aren't you coming? It's not my house, it's not like I can just waltz in," as he finished his sentence the front door opened with a creak. Severus blinked not knowing how to react just yet.
But Ophelia was happy. Even the house recognized that Snape was not a threat to her life which made her feel even more sure that he was her best friend. Rabastan sighed in relief and quickly moved their luggage into the house.
"This is different from the outside," Severus stated as he entered into the hallway. The walls were stretching out right in front of his eyes and it felt like the house was...
"It is. Alive, I mean. It was enchanted to be bigger on the inside but it grew a soul of its own." Ophelia explained already reading his mind. "Besides, Spinnard was buried in the garden so..."
Snape turned with an incredulous look as if that was so odd. Ophelia laughed and grabbed his arm with joy.
"Come on, a new room is being created as we speak."
Severus was confused.
Unfortunately, Dylis was nowhere to be found which made Ophelia think about all the bad scenarios out there. Another issue was Rabastan, who, after getting their luggage in with the help of magic, did not leave. Instead, he went into the living room and made himself comfortable on the couch while Severus was looking around.
Ophelia stared at the young Lestrange expectantly but he didn't move a finger.
"Don't you have somewhere else to be?" Ophelia finally asked but Rabastan shrugged. "Father hasn't given you a list of people to murder until dinner?" She added coldly, sitting next to him.
"If I get one, Snape does too. He's a full-fledged Death Eater now," he replied, knowing that it made her uncomfortable. "And yet he entered the cottage with no problem. The door opened for him," he added leaning back leisurely.
"A new room is being created for him too,"
"Is it? I thought it was for me since I plan to spend the night here,"
"Who'd allow that?"
"You," he said leaning closer to her. "And the house,"
Ophelia could see his usually perfectly chiseled face and bright blue eyes that shined with mischief and almost remembered the good old days when she couldn't control her emotions. But the good old days were gone...
"Where is Dylis?" Ophelia changed the subject but she didn't move her head. They were still very close to each other.
Rabastan looked deep into her snake-like green eyes and slowly his playful expression cracked, unveiling the torture behind.
"Knowingall must be hiding so your house elf is probably with him. Your kitten isn't here either," he said, not giving away any information but from what Ophelia could see in his mind, he didn't know much in general.
"Are you choosing not to know or are they keeping you out of what father is doing?" she asked bluntly since she didn't want him to go around the bush with explanations that didn't matter.
Luckily for Rabastan, a voice exclaiming what sounded like "holy crap!" drew Ophelia's attention. She hurried out the door and upstairs where she found that, as expected, a new room was created right across hers. But another interesting thing that happened was Spinnard's room. The door was open and Snape was standing in the hallway staring at a painting that Ophelia swore was not there before. She frowned as she approached the portrait, his cold eyes watching her every move.
"A different portrait was here, looking over the house, especially the entrance. A lady," Ophelia explained to herself more than anyone else.
"Indeed. Until, of course, past unexpected events happened and the future changed," Spinnard's portrait commented, one of his eyebrows raised as if expecting her to apologize since she made it happen. "After your little visit, I decided to leave some sort of trace of myself in the most fitting place. My soul is in this house but it cannot speak, so I had this portrait done right before your father killed me,"
"But why can't she remember? You've been dead for five years already...sir," Snape said, surprised and curious that Spinnard would go so far for a little girl he disliked.
"Magic works in mysterious ways, Severus. Of course, there is a right time and right moment for everything," Spinnard explained before his eyes fell over the door to his former room, "You can go unpack, boy. I promise the house took care to eliminate any trace of my existence in that room,"
"But how can that be? James spent time here and nothing changed,"
Spinnard paused and almost smiled at the green-eyed student.
"The cottage responds to the owner's feelings but also to the connection between the owner and his guests. Potter may be a descendant of the Peverell family, he may be good but he is not Snape, is he? Snape is for you what Peverell was for me," Spinnard explained but he could see that Ophelia didn't quite understand what he was trying to say. "You treasure Snape more than most of your other friends,"
"But that's not enough,"
"No, it's not. Unless it goes both ways,"
"But I'm not Lily, and he will always love Lily no matter what he says," Ophelia said, taking a step closer to the portrait.
"There are various types of love, Ophelia. You love Lestrange but you also love Snape, in different ways,"
"I don't love Rabastan...not anymore," Ophelia added quickly, looking to the side. Spinnard seemed amused but unfortunately, she didn't catch it. "So-"
"I'm tired now so you should move along," he said, not wanting to get involved in her life more than necessary. Ophelia was ready to say more but he literally left his portrait.
Ophelia glanced at Snape's room and walked to it. She didn't knock since it was already open enough for her to peek inside.
"Blimey," she gasped at the sight.
Snape was not doing anything out of the ordinary, he was simply placing his clothes into the dresser. But what was until very recently a blue and silver room, draped in Ravenclaw pride and desire for affirmation, pictures with Peverell, and a journal full of bad memories, was now...Snape's room. She couldn't believe how a place with so much personality became something different, as if Spinnard wasn't there to begin with, as if he never lived there and left nothing behind of his school years. But the room was not green either, nor was it implying that the new owner was a Slytherin. It was just a normal bedroom, waiting to be decorated with new memories.
And then Ophelia's eyes fell on Snape and she understood. It wasn't the vow, it wasn't her father and it wasn't the power that kept Snape beside her. It was just...him. Although he never says it out loud and rarely expresses his emotions, he's sometimes hard on her and looks ready to set her on fire, Severus Snape does consider Ophelia a trustworthy friend, enough for the cottage to sense his loyalty to their friendship.
"What are you doing?" Snape asked, having noticed her standing in the door frame with a huge smile on her face.
"Nothing,"
"Don't read my mind," Snape said quickly, already using all their lessons to block his mind just in case.
"I'm not. I don't need to,"
It was from that day forward that Ophelia never ever doubted Snape, no matter how suspicious his decisions were.
