OPHELIA - D.M

7

"I think my parents are going to be sent to Azkaban," Draco said so quietly she almost missed it. She looked at him as he looked away timidly. It took a minute to process what the boy had said.

"What did they do?" She asked, knowing full well what they did but too hesitant to come out with it.

"You know what they did," she could hear the melancholy in his voice as he passed her the spliff. "They said they wouldn't be prosecuted... that the ministry didn't have anything on them."

"Maybe they will get away with it," she suggested before taking a toke, cautious not to spook the boy who was clearly struggling to be vulnerable with her. He shook his head though, as if he was just counting the days before he got the letter informing him.

"They aren't. The ministry's been building their case on them for a while... Lucius just got too comfortable." Draco calling his father by his actual name was a rare occurrence, but the girl could feel the resentment burning off him.

"When do you think it's going to happen?" Ophelia was becoming more confident in her words, sussing out the best way to respond to him.

"I don't know, soon though. Ministry officials have been popping up more and more according to mother's letters," he shrugged before taking a long toke of the spliff that had now reached dogends before throwing it off the edge of the tower. "It's a serious crime, fraternising with Voldemort, they're not gonna get off lightly."

The girl nodded her head at him as she examined his features. He had seemed more sunken since their return to Hogwarts, she just wasn't aware why. "What will you do when they take them?"

"I'll get the estate and assets passed down to me as-well as their Gringotts accounts. I don't know what I'll do about the Manor, it's too big for three people let alone one," he shook his head at the thought, running his hand through his blonde locks.

"I can stay with you, you know, after we finish Hogwarts. I need a place to stay anyways, I was gonna get a studio somewhere in Hogsmead since I can't really stay at home," she shrugged, before continuing, "we could roommate."

He glanced up at her, trying to figure out whether she was serious or not before a small smile crept onto his face. "You would do that? I thought you 'couldn't stand me'."

She laughed, although there was a heavy dryness to it as she pulled out two cigarettes and a lighter holding one out to him, which he gladly accepted.

"You're not too bad, Malfoy. Like you said, it's massive anyways so how often would we really bump into each other," he nodded at her in appreciation.

"Guess I would be able to deal with having you around," they each had small smiles on their faces. Draco and Ophelia had never really had a conversation this meaningful before, this honest. "Why can't you stay at home? I thought you got on well with your family?"

"I do, I love them. I just... when I'm at home I feel like their caretaker. You know how Luna is, our dad's ten times worse, he can barely look after himself. I'm constantly tidying up after them and making sure he eats since he gets so wrapped up in his own little world and his writing that he forgets. I usually get someone to come and check on him when I'm not there, I'll just have to start paying them to do it in the holidays as well." He nodded in understanding, he knew the Lovegood family were quite... odd but hearing how much the girl had to do for them even made him feel exhausted.

"So you feel like a maid in your own home?" He asked bluntly causing her to let out a short, dry laugh.

"Pretty much, they don't do it on purpose, of course not. I know people have much worse home-lives than me but it doesn't change the fact that I can never settle or get comfortable when I'm there. I can never feel taken care of because I'm always the one dealing with everything. I mean I do his bills and taxes for the ministry, I have everything sent to here when I'm at school to make sure nothing gets missed. I've been doing it since I was nine, I guess I had to grow up too fast." The two took a moment to just look at each other, each of their problems so vastly different yet there was a level of understanding between them. It felt nice, to be understood. "Of course it would kill Luna if she ever realised how much I really did, but luckily she's not quite there most of the time, you know."