With no Dylis to help Ophelia in the house, she was stuck on how to cook. The last time she tried, Mrs. Potter threw her out of the kitchen, not to mention how she never got the chance to learn from her mother or stepmother. So, there they were, all three, sitting at the table, with nothing in the cupboards and an empty fridge.
"Don't you know how to cook?" Severus asked Ophelia, feeling disheartened by the beginning of this last vacation.
"I never lived alone. Every summer I had someone cook and clean and...at Hogwarts, we don't really do anything but study," she said, blushing in embarrassment at how useless she was without magic. "What about you?"
"Mum was always at home, or there was Lily's mother," he said meekly before they both turned to Rabastan. "Have you ever done anything by yourself?"
"Yes, I do know how to cook easy recipes but there is nothing to cook with," Rabastan explained and they all sighed. "We could go and buy groceries if any of you has muggle money,"
"I do," Ophelia said and surprised the two boys with her hiding spot.
Rabastan and Severus followed her silently into her room, which had nothing Gryffindor-ish on the walls to Snape's surprise, and to her dresser which she opened and then unlocked a secret compartment.
"How did you make this?" Rabastan asked, taken aback in a good way by her mischief.
"Dylis helped me. Nobody knows of this compartment except Dylis, and now you two. I do hope it will remain secret," Ophelia said and both she and Severus turned to Rabastan with knowing looks.
"Why are you only wary of me?"
"Because I trust Severus," she said in a matter-of-fact tone. "Anyway, here. This should be enough," she said and grabbed a few thousand pounds from her little secret stash.
"How rich are you?" Severus asked, counting the money, growing more and more shocked by the amount.
"My stepparents had decent jobs," she said quietly and closed her dresser.
With food on the table and their stomachs full, Ophelia decided to go into the garden and lie there, next to the fountain. Life outside the castle was so much more peaceful than she expected, but it must have been the sacrifice of thousands of unnamed heroes, who fight in the background to stop Voldemort and his Death Eaters. Many of them were parents, siblings, aunts and uncles, friends, and so on...innocent people who were brave enough to sacrifice for the greater good. And here she was, hiding, strong enough to fight but not to win. It was such a disappointment that she was so close to the enemy and yet couldn't do anything to stop him.
It was already night when she walked back into the house and noticed for the first time how quiet it was. Without Dylis, the house seemed empty. And Knowingall, she hadn't heard from him in so long, she was scared that something bad happened. That night she had a nightmare of a snake appearing at her feet and crawling under the covers to her face before biting her. She woke up in sweat and tears but she heard Spinnard cough in the hall, which surprisingly put her at ease.
The next morning, bright and early, Severus woke up and went straight into the kitchen, following the entrancing smell of cooked eggs. Rabastan was there in a blue apron that matched his eyes and he seemed...happy.
"This is a new sight," Severus stated, sitting at the table, a plate with a well-made omelette that smelled heavenly. "I heard that you are supposed to leave for Japan soon. The Dark Lord's ideals reached the Mahoutokoro School of Magic and he needs someone to inform them of his plans further,"
"First America and now Japan," Rabastan said although with no subtle meaning. "He wants me as far from her as possible,"
"Not her, but Dumbledore. He knows you have disappeared here and there, and he knows it had something to do with Dumbledore," Snape spoke nonchalantly, eating while at the same time almost threatening Rabastan. "You should be careful, Lestrange. It was not me who told him, but Dolohov and Rosier. If those two noticed, then you're not being as careful as you think,"
"Are you protecting me now?" Rabastan asked, glancing at the younger boy with a chuckle. "I don't need it. He's not going to kill me anytime soon,"
"If you say so," Severus muttered. "But try not to involve Ophelia," he added at the end.
"Ophelia doesn't need any help to get herself in trouble, she does it brilliantly by herself," Rabastan said with a grin, although it was no laughing matter. But it was funny how good she was at buying herself time away from her father.
Ophelia, though, did not wake up in time for breakfast. By the time she went downstairs, Rabastan was getting ready to leave. She rubbed her eyes and walked him to the door. He was already outside when he turned to her.
"Aren't you very eager to get rid of me," he was joking but Ophelia didn't reply. Rabastan sighed and looked at her, at the way her green eyes glinted in the morning sun and how much she had grown both in height and looks. She looked so much like a softer version of Voldemort, it was so odd because she also looked like her mother but only in certain situations, from certain angles. "Can I kiss you for the last time?" he asked out of nowhere.
"Sure. Right here, on the cheek," she said and Rabastan couldn't help but laugh. But he did it. He grasped the opportunity and kissed her cheek, which meant for him a lot more than she thought.
Once she closed the door behind Rabastan, she turned to go into the living room but got freaked out by someone who randomly appeared in front of her.
"Fuck! Merlin's beard...Dobby," she needed a moment to calm down after such a shock. For a second she really thought it was her father. "What are you doing here, Dobby?"
"Dylis asked Dobby to check on Miss,"
"Where is Dylis?"
"Dobby doesn't know. Dobby was cleaning the steps when Dylis arrived and asked for a favor. Dylis said Miss is not very good with...chores," Dobby was very innocent in his way but Ophelia couldn't help but feel a little piss off, even if what he said was true.
"Won't Malfoy be angry with you?"
"Master Malfoy doesn't know Dobby is here," he said, his voice growing meek at the thought of punishment.
"Well, then, I have an idea," she said and hurried upstairs to grab her special mirror. She looked into it and even wiped it twice before she tilted her head in confusion. "Hello? Can anybody hear me? Lucius, are you there? Hello?" she tried several times but nothing happened. "Is there nobody in the Malfoy Manor?"
"Can you be louder?" Lucius' voice came from the other side, followed soon enough by his eye. "What is it that you want?" he asked, already annoyed.
"Can I borrow Dobby for a while?" she asked innocently.
"Why? And what does a while mean?" he asked, visibly growing more annoyed but at the same time trying to keep himself open for anything weird that she could come up with.
"I'm home and apparently I am useless in everything non-magical so I need someone to either teach or help or both. I know Dobby already."
"Don't you have your own house elf?"
"Dylis is a free elf, he's not chained to me and the house, and he's currently away. So? Can I borrow Dobby, young master Malfoy?" she asked, her eyes, which were incredibly close to the mirror, already making Lucius feel nauseous.
"Fine. But listen to me Ophelia, do not free him. Under no circumstances are you his official master, so do not free my house elf. Do you hear me? I'll say it again since I know you and how you like to bend the rules. DO NOT FREE-" his voice was muffled since Ophelia placed the mirror face down on the bed.
Dobby himself seemed rather happy not having to return to the Malfoy Manor. But it was also a good way of finding out what was going on around her father and his acolytes.
Unfortunately, while Ophelia returned downstairs, Severus also walked down, dressed and ready to leave using the floo powder.
"Wait, where are you going?"
"I have several missions this week," Severus said as if it was nothing.
"Missions as in hanging out with Death Eaters?"
"Not necessarily. I am a Death Eater, I have my own chores to complete,"
"Will you possibly kill innocent people?"
"Not innocent," he added as if it made a difference.
"That doesn't make it better," Ophelia commented.
Severus shrugged and waved at her, as if he was going to work, and then disappeared in the green flames. Ophelia sighed and fell on the couch.
"Is he still around the Malfoy Manor?" Ophelia asked Dobby with a disgruntled expression.
"No. He spends more time at the Lestrange Mansion, where he holds meetings every other day. Or so Dobby heard from Master,"
"I guess because of Aeron Lestrange, hm? He's a judge at the ministry,"
Dobby nodded fervently, "Indeed. Dobby heard from other house elves that many Death Eaters were set free and most of Azkaban is filled with former ministry officials,"
Ophelia frowned, not ready to hear such bad news yet.
"But Miss should be aware that Severus Snape has become one of the Dark Lord's most trusted men. He does everything he is ordered to and his word has become more important than Master's and young Master's," he said as a prevention since he saw how close Ophelia was to Snape.
"I wish I could do something, or find a place for the Order to train. Maybe even go out and stop the murders,"
"But Miss can do that from here,"
"I can't, we can't. We're still underage. I may be hidden because of father but the rest are not,"
"But the cottage can do that for you, it can be a safe bubble. Dobby is sure that the cottage will protect everyone inside,"
"But Severus is here,"
"But Miss trusts him, doesn't she? Even if he is a Death Eater," Dobby was really good to have around.
