OLD SCARS → Peter Pettigrew | √

5 - Benjamin Crane

Ophelia spent the summer alone. She and Peter had drifted apart, Remus hardly spoke to her and spent his time with the others instead but mostly with Sirius. She and Lily too drifted apart, Lily spending more time with her friends, and Ophelia didn't know what she had done that was wrong. It was then she realized how alone she truly felt.

She felt as though she was dying inside, she knew she was a mess and it was all her fault. Her mother softly knocked on her door and told her breakfast was ready and Ophelia sighed. Time to face the world and wish she could die.

She ate her food in silence even when her father tried talking to her, even when her aunt gave her a present for her birthday. She didn't understand why she gave her a present. She hated her aunt. Instead, she went outside and ran in her vixen form. She found a tree that was far from their house and curled up under it.

She wondered if Ford Freeman hadn't opened his stupid mouth and insulted her dead brother, would she be surrounded by friends now. She raised her head when she heard a sound from behind her.

"Leave it alone Alex!" She heard a girl squeal and she backed away, barring her teeth at the dark haired boy. He had a stick in his right hand and Ophelia barred her teeth even more.

"Stop being such a wuss Ivy!" Alex barked back and raised the stick to strike Ophelia, she immediately bolted and the boy chased after her. He only gave up after she ran into an area with a few trees.

Ophelia changed back and sighed. She was tired, and was panting for air. Even though it wasn't that hot at this hour, she was sweating like a pig. She ran a hand through her now beach blonde hair and she sunk beside the tree and began crying.

She was glad no one could hear her for miles. Ophelia pulled her wand out that was in her sleeve and stared at it. For some reason, she wished someone could use an unforgivable curse on her. It didn't matter which one, just as long she could no longer feel the pain in her heart.

Ophelia flicked her wand and a silver wisp like creature appeared from it. She watched as her Patronus, which took the form of a fox, ran around her only to disappear into a tree. It was the only thing that made her feel close to her brother. Other than the locket that hung from her neck.

She decided to just apparate home instead to take the long trek home. Her aunt was already at work, which made her happy, her mother was cleaning the house and her father was preparing to leave for work.

"What do you want from the stores?" Her father asked her and she gaped at him. She wasn't two anymore, she had just turned sixteen. But his eyes glimmered with hope and she sighed.

"I ran out of shampoo." She said and that little glimmer died. He just nodded and pecked his wife on the cheek before bidding his goodbyes to his wife and daughter.

*

Ophelia waved at her parents one last time before boarding the train and looked for an empty compartment. She sat alone but she didn't really mind it anymore. She spent the entire summer alone, either cooped up in her room where she was sure the walls had began shrinking or outside, far from her house where she was sure she couldn't see the dull blue house she called home.

She sat alone at the Gryffindor table, whispers flew all around her but she didn't pay attention to them. Her friends, or rather ex friends, looked at her with looks of sympathy but Ophelia was already used to them. She got them everyday at home from her parents and her aunt.

Ophelia went straight to bed after that, not bothering to stop when Beckett began teasing her. She sometimes wished she wasn't in Gryffindor. It was a painful reminder of her brother and his tragic death.

She lay in bed as she couldn't sleep. Lily was fast asleep but Ophelia's mind buzzed. It was a soft humming sound but it irritated her a lot.

She eventually fell asleep clutching to the locket around her neck. She tried to forget it was there but no matter how she tried, she couldn't.

*

Charms class was hell. One, Professor Flitwick had the audacity to ask her why was she not more like her brother when she couldn't get the spell right. Two, her friends pretended she didn't exist. And that's when Ophelia decided that two can play that game.

She managed to score detention for not paying attention in Transfiguration but she didn't mind it. Anything that would keep her away from her former friends.

She had to clean the trophy room and she took her sweet time. She knew she had Transfiguration homework but doing homework without Remus didn't feel right at all.

Once she was done with her detention, she made her way to the library and buried herself in books of history. She liked history a lot and it had always puzzled her brother.

Ophelia decided not to look up, even when heard feet shuffle closer to her. She decided not to stand up and walk away, even though her whole body urged her to. She decided not to open her eyes, even when she heard someone flop themselves beside her.

The person didn't talk, he or she just sat there. Ophelia decided to open her eyes and she met a pair of golden brown eyes. She didn't know the boy but they just sat like that.

This happened for two weeks. They never spoke but Ophelia felt better. It filled the hole in her heart, the hole her former friends were responsible for. He was a Ravenclaw boy, in his last year.

Though they never spoke, Ophelia felt like herself around him. In the two weeks, she cried on his shoulder and he comforted her. He also sat next to her in the Great Hall, even though the Professors threatened him with a sling of never ending detentions. The Gryffindor table grew angry at this, as well as the Ravenclaw table but they didn't do anything about.

"I'm Benjamin Crane by the way." He one day said and his voice had taken her aback. It was deeper than what she thought it would originally be. She imagined him having a voice on the verge of cracking but still squeaky.

"Ophelia Lourdes." She hummed and they shook hands. Then they were plunged into silence but they were already used to the silence.

*

Ophelia Lourdes was a name that was usually on everyone's tongue. For two reasons, she nearly killed Ford Freeman in her second year and her brother was insane and was obsessed with finding the Chamber of Secrets.

But Benjamin Crane was a name that was on no one's tongue. He was a prefect but people didn't really know who he was, other than the boy who was crazy enough to befriend Ophelia. And the boy who was currently dating Maeve Bixby.

"I found out something rather disturbing." Benjamin mused that afternoon as they sat in the Gryffindor common room. Even though they both had gotten detention after detention, Benjamin never stopped coming to the Gryffindor common room and Ophelia never stopped going to the Ravenclaw tower. "Sirius and Remus are dating."

Ophelia felt betrayed and hurt. She loved Sirius and Remus was her best friend. They used to tell each other everything, she even risked her life and became an Animagus for him, even though she hid it from him at first. She didn't know she was crying until Benjamin engulfed her in a hug. "I'm going to kill myself to stop all this pain Ben." She whispered.

"Then, I'll join you." They sat there, oblivious that the four who were her former friends were watching them. And that they actually felt sorry for her.