Sirius went into the kitchen with Dobby to treat his wound while Ophelia remained with her best friend. She was on the couch and Snape was pacing in front of her, glancing at her from time to time with a side glare. 

"Well? Explain yourself," he started.

"I was on the porch, thinking about life, when I saw a form coming in the distance and it proved to be Evan, a friend of yours," As soon as those words escaped Ophelia's mouth, Snape scoffed and glared at her. "And he proclaimed that he would teach me quickly how to apparate so he grabbed me and we apparated in London. He left me all alone, I wandered around for a bit, it's quite a nice and crowded city, but I never had the chance to explore it,  which I guess worked since I was able to get back home." 

"What? He left you all by yourself in London?" 

"I'm not a kid, Sev. Besides, I remembered Sirius would be in London and searched for him and-" she stopped seeing how Snape looked livid that she searched for Black and not him. "How would you have acted then? I was afraid to apparate,"

"Well, you are here, aren't you? With Black. I would have called for a better-suited friend than Black," he replied crossing his arms in front of his chest, annoyed. But Ophelia seemed pretty happy and only chose to hear the first part of his bitter sentence.

"Right? It was a success! I'm not hurt at all," she said looking at her body once more.

"Black is, which I have to recognize, does give me some sort of content," Snape said with a quirky laugh before his face returned to a scowl. "Why did you bring him here?"

"I was afraid all by myself and he was nice enough to tag along."

Then, as he listened to Ophelia, Snape realized an important element: it was Black that apparated them, not Ophelia, so that was why he got splinched and she didn't. But then, where did he know to come? Was it possible that she unconsciously showed him? He was not going to ask, though. Having her be so confident helped in future endeavours regarding apparition. 

"How will he go back to his house? And how fast can that happen? I'm tired," Snape said looking at his friend with deep halos under his eyes.

"Why are you tired?" she asked, completely changing her demeanour. It was as if she changed personalities in a split second. "Did you kill someone?"

"Why are you always asking me that? Maybe I just cooked lunch, wrote reports, or something else," he said rolling his eyes. But Ophelia didn't buy it, since she knew her father very well. "I didn't. Happy? My job is more to bring new members, spread the word, and even spy,"

"How very honourable," she said with sarcasm but Snape couldn't be bothered with that.

Meanwhile, in another part of the house, more specifically in the kitchen, Dobby was carefully mending Sirius' wound. It was such a strange sight, seeing Malfoy's house elf help someone with so much joy out of his own will.

"How did Malfoy allow you to be here?" Sirius asked.

"Miss Ophelia is a very persistent witch, sir. She asked young master Malfoy and he agreed easily," 

"Does she have that much power over Lucius?"

Dobby looked up at the boy and his eyes softened and a wide smile appeared on his face.

"Miss Ophelia has power over many dark wizards, sir."

"Of course, they're all dying to get in her father's grace,"

"No, Dobby does not mean that, sir. Miss Ophelia resembles the Dark Lord but Miss doesn't use fear. Miss uses respect, that's why many wizards like her. Such as you, sir, and the youngest Lestrange."

"Do you not like me, Dobby?" Sirius asked, narrowing his eyes playfully at the house elf, but poor Dobby was taken aback.

"Of course not, sir! Dobby likes all respectable wizards and witches!" he said quickly, getting off his chair and backing away.

"Like Malfoy?" Sirius asked leaning back.

"...yes," Dobby couldn't say anything against his master after all.

"And Rabastan?"

"Young Mister Lestrange is respectable sir, although Dobby knows he hurt Misses very much. But Dobby saw his face that day. He was crying." Dobby said feeling pity for Rabastan. It was quite the news among house elves that Rabastan locked himself in his room and cried after the awful breakup. "Even now, he is protecting this land and Misses," 

"Really..." Sirius said rolling his eyes. This discussion was not going in the way he expected.

Dobby glanced around before he stepped closer as if to tell a secret.

"The land protects itself from anyone who wants to harm Misses, but the forest is a wicked place, sir. The Dark Lord keeps an eye on her from afar and young mister Lestrange had taken it upon himself to...filter the information that the Dark Lord receives."

"Does he now...how very honourable of him," Sirius mumbled feeling annoyed. 

When Sirius walked out of the kitchen, Ophelia was by herself, staring at the chimney as if she was in a daze. He sat next to her and she suddenly woke up from her daydream when she felt the couch move.

"Are you alright?" she asked, her eyes going to his arm. "Was it deep?"

"Dobby did a very good job, I'm fine. What about you? What did Snape say?" he asked leaning back, relaxing a bit.

"Nothing. This is my house, after all. He's not happy but he doesn't have a choice but accept that you are here. He also acknowledges that Rosier overdid it." she said with a sigh. "We should go to sleep, it's already really late. You can say hello to Spinnard when we go upstairs,"

"...Spinnard?"

Whatever Sirius imagined, it fell short of the walk upstairs and the long portrait of a man that was missing from his frame. 

"Hm. He's usually here, especially by night. That over there is Snape's room," she said and pointed at a door towards their left. "And your room is...here," she said, walking a few feet further down the hall, passing Spinnard's portrait. "My room is just across yours. My room and the one that Snape uses have always been here, but this one was created when Knowingall started to sleep over and then it changed a bit when Rabastan slept over," she said nonchalantly, not thinking twice about the name that came out her mouth. 

"Rabastan slept here. Of course, he did," Sirius mumbled, annoyed that Lestrange had a bigger understanding and knowledge of Ophelia's life. It never bothered him before although he witnessed the involvement of Rabastan in Ophelia's life, but being here, in her home, in her personal space, and hearing his name so often was...more annoying than he had ever felt before. 

Ophelia smiled at Sirius and caressed his wounded arm softly, feeling guilty for having him suffer because of her. It took him by surprise and erased his jealousy in a second. 

"Good night," she said and went into her room. 

She was in bed, that was for sure, but she could hear something move in her room. She tried to get up but realized that she couldn't move. Her eyes were going left and right, panic filled her body as the sound came nearer. The creature that came into her room was hissing, and it seemed to come from all over the room not just one spot, which only amplified her fear. And then she noticed something slipping under her covers, crawling slowly up her body until it reached her face and then-

Ophelia woke up, sweating and trembling. She felt like she had that nightmare before, but it felt more intense now. She looked at her shaking hands and couldn't help but lock her eyes on the serpent ring. It was him. It was a bad omen, she was sure about it. He was going to eat her alive. There was no point in fighting her future, she was going to either become a horcrux and allow her father to become immortal or she was going to die. It was such a scary thought that she couldn't help but tear up. But then she heard a yawn from the hallway and for some reason, Spinnard's presence, even as a mere portrait, calmed her down. 

After that nightmare, Ophelia couldn't go to sleep anymore so she decided to put the kettle on, make tea, and go drink it in the garden. That was where Sirius found her after he woke up. It was quite a shock when he saw her bedroom door open, with no Gryffindor in bed nor in the living room or the kitchen. 

"What are you doing here?" he asked sitting next to her. It was still early and the colours in the sky were beautiful. The whole sight, by day, was marvellous and warm, compared to the sight that Sirius saw last night.

"I had a nightmare. I was in bed, paralyzed, and a snake crawled up," she said and formed a snake with her hand. "And then bam!" she said and scared Sirius when she moved her hand closer to his face as if trying to grab onto his nose. "I woke up before he bit me. I already know what it means,"

"What's that?"

Ophelia chuckled and looked down at her tea before she decided to change the subject. 

"When I die, I want to be buried here, next to Spinnard. My magic and his magic combined will create a shelter for wizards and witches in times of need. It will be in the middle of nowhere, I agree it's a bit far from the maddening crowd, but I want this cottage, this land, to be just as safe as Hogwarts." She said looking at the sky with determination. Sirius scoffed and pinched her arm.

"Can you stop talking about the future as if you won't be in it? I plan on making you my lover, Molley. And I plan on a long and boring relationship that will end with maybe marriage and children, maybe not, that's not what matters but we will live a long life. War or no war." he said looking at her, as the light fell on her face and on her green eyes that looked so melancholic and beautiful. 

Sirius Black was partially joking, hoping that she would feel better after what he said, but a part of him was serious. Every day, he was surprised by a different new side of Ophelia, one that was drawing him even deeper into emotions that he lost control over. But Ophelia started to laugh, her eyes twinkling with joy at his confession and he couldn't help but feel giddy. 

Everything suddenly stopped when they heard the doorbell. Ophelia frowned, not having heard the doorbell in a very long time. They walked back into the house and met Snape in the hallway, who seemed just as confused.

"Who would come here and ring the bell?" Ophelia asked Snape who shrugged. But whoever it was, it walked on the land and nothing happened so it must have been someone who didn't want to harm Ophelia.

With incredibly slow and wary movements, Ophelia opened the door and all three teenagers stared with confusion and bewilderment at the guest.

 "Headmaster?" 

There he was. Dumbledore was at the door of Spinnard's cottage and he looked very pleased to see not only Snape but also Black.