knock, knock, it's an intervention!
A knock on the door caused Ophelia to roll over and face the wall. She had no desire to see anyone right now, especially her friends. All she wanted was to be left alone. She had never felt like this before. She wondered what he parents would think of their once sweet and kind girl, behaving in such a manner. The only thing she was thankful for in this moment was that even with all the anger she had let go of, her powers didn't come through. That took serious self control and somehow she managed it. "Ophelia?" Her best friends voice rang out. It was Pansy. "I kind of need to get in. But my wands in there." She said through the locked door. Ophelia, not caring enough to retrieve her own wand, waved her hand and unlocked it from the bed. Wandless magic, just one of the many gifts she possessed that had to remain a secret. "Okay, now please don't be mad, but I lied to you." Pansy stated as Ophelia sat up, seeing Blaise and Theo just behind her. Ophelia slammed back down on the bed and covered her head with a pillow, letting out a long, exaggerated groan.
"Can you all just bugger off, please?" Her muffled voice carried through the pillow and to them. But they didn't. Blaise and Pansy sat on the side of her bed as Theo leaned against the doorway. Removing the pillow from her face, she looked up to see not only were the three of them there, but Draco had come as well. "Great. Is this an intervention or something?" She frowned.
"You're just not yourself right now, babes. We're all worried about you." Pansy rested her hand on Ophelia's leg, as her frown turned into a straight face with no expression. Draco stood silent in the doorway.
"I'm fine." Ophelia stammered out.
"Beg to differ on that one, mate." Theo of course had to add a sense of wittiness into the conversation. "We all saw you go to town on Greengrass out there. It's pretty clear you've reached a breaking point." She knew he was right. They all were. Normally things like this wouldn't cause her to have such outbursts as she has been. But she knew it was just her powers amplifying inside her body, desperately looking for an outlet to unleash some sort of havoc. One can only go so long without using their powers, until it finds a way.
"Ophelia, I wanted to say I'm sorry for what happened out on the field. I don't agree with what you did, but I see why you did it. Quite honestly, I'm impressed." Blaise spoke eloquently to her.
"Thanks, father. I appreciate the sentiment." She rolled her eyes at him.
"Look, if I weren't captain of the team, I would have told you to finish her off. But I have to be the disciplinary one, alright? And I can't show favorites when it comes to my friends and my team." He explained further, and she was understanding him just a little more now. She nodded, letting the anger dissipate from her slowly. "Believe me, it was pretty brilliant."
"And bloody hot, might I add." Theo chimed in as Ophelia took her pillow, throwing it at him. Pansy looked to Draco, who was still silent and unchanged. She widened her eyes and nodded over to Ophelia, indicating that he needs to work his shit out with her. He nodded slightly.
"Ophelia, could we talk?" He asked, approaching.
"Oh, we're back to using first names now, are we?" She asked him and he couldn't help but smirk. "Yeah. That's fine." The other three walked out, shutting the door behind them. Draco stared at Ophelia in her bed, unsure of where to begin. Slowly, he grew closer to her, sitting on the left side toward the foot of the bed.
"I am truly sorry for the things I had said to you. In all honesty, I didn't mean any of it. It was just my way of pushing you away, I suppose." He swallowed his pride as he let down his walls around his emotions.
"But why do you want to push me away?" She asked, leaning forward, just a tad bit closer to him.
"It's—," he stopped. He too, had a secret. And he couldn't tell her. He couldn't tell anyone, even if she was who he wanted to know the absolute most. "It's complicated. I just, have a lot going on and a lot on my mind and one day, I'll be able to explain it all, I hope. But for now, I need you to be content with that answer." He finally looked over to her as she nodded, feeling tears swell up in her eyes. His hand reached forward, resting itself gently on her knee. "I do miss you, Ophelia. I miss our friendship."
"That all you miss?" She questioned, cocking her head to the side. He thought for a moment.
"I cannot be with someone in that way right now." The words came out slow, and stung hard. "But I would very much like to be your friend again." She nodded vigorously, wiping the tears from her eyes, and lunged up, wrapping her arms around his neck. He reached his hands behind her back, squeezing tightly and wanting to soak all of her in. If he never had to let go, he wouldn't have. Feeling her against him once again was like a dream he had hoped for the past 6 months. It felt surreal. "That's a wicked left hook you've got, by the way." He muttered to her as she let out a laugh. "She deserved it."
"Be careful, say some more nasty comments to me and you'll see how she felt." She joked back to him as she pulled away from the hug. His eyes glanced down to her lips and it took everything in him to fight the urge to press his against them. But he had to. "I hear there's going to be a party in the common room in a few hours. Will I see you there?" She asked.
"I'm not sure. I have a few things I need to do. But I'll try to make it." He smiled, weakly.
"Why are you so damn mysterious?" She reached her hand up, tangling a few strands of his hair in between her fingers. He leaned forward, just barely brushing his lips against her ear.
"Keeps you on your toes." He whispered.
— — —
When nightfall came around, and curfew had begun, the Slytherin students had just been waking up for the evening. It was the first Slytherin party of the year. Usually, this was the only time half-bloods and muggle-borns were permitted in the Slytherin common room, due to the fact that they were required to bring alcohol to share. So, no alcohol, no entry. Those were the rules. And in the past, Fred and George were almost always the guys with it all. But now that they had left, it was surprising to see that Ginny Weasley had bestowed it upon herself to provide it. Ginny hated the majority of the Slytherin house, with the exception of few, like Ophelia, but she could never turn down a chance to party. And let's be honest, the ambience in the dungeons was unreal.
"Weasley really lives up to her brothers." Pansy commented, lifting up a bottle of firewhisky, and pouring Ophelia a drink. One drink turned into three drinks and three turned quickly into seven. The night was going on, while everyone enjoyed the first party of the year, and Ophelia couldn't help but wonder where Draco had been. He hadn't shown face and it was nearing midnight. From across the room, Daphne and Astoria stood, snickering to themselves and making subtle comments no one could hear. Ophelia's anger had subsided, and truly she felt a little guilty for how she acted. But, the Greengrass sisters made it easy to lose all sympathy for them. "Dance with me." Pansy grabbed onto Ophelia's hand, pulling her toward her.
"My legs feel like jelly." Ophelia slurred to her friend as Pansy let out a laugh, turning her around and wrapping her arms around to the front of her.
"Don't look now, but you've got an admirer." She whispered and Ophelia's eyes darted up to across the room, where Draco stood against the wall, holding a glass of his own, beside Blaise. "It's a tad bit creepy if you ask me." Pansy laughed again, swaying side to side.
"Ladies," Theo's voice rang out as he approached them with small little shot glasses. "Cheers!" They all, in sync, gulped down the shot of gigglewater. Theo wrapped his arms around the two girls and swayed with them, resting his head on Ophelia's. After just a minute or two, Ophelia's eyes drifted back over to Draco, who was now extending his index finger, indicating to come to him.
"I'll—," hiccup, "be right back." She told the two before walking toward Draco.
"No she won't." Pansy commented to Theo, before wrapping her arms around him.
"Hi." Ophelia greeted Draco, trying to compose herself.
"You alright?" He asked her with a smirk.
"I'm fine?" She responded, confused by what he was meaning.
"You ran into three people on your way over here." He chuckled, rubbing his chin and cocking his head to the side. "How many drinks is that?"
"Um," she paused, looking up and trying to remember what number she was on and when she began to drink to begin with. "Eight? Wait— no, I don't know." She shook her head with a giggle. Draco, not feeling a need to respond, handed his glass to Blaise and pulled Ophelia's arm around his waist, beginning to walk with her.
"What's going on there?" Theo asked Pansy, who now focused her attention on them. She hurried over to Draco, who was approaching the stairs to the girls dorms.
"Where are you going with her?" She asked, slightly set off.
"Relax, Parkinson, I'm just taking her to bed." He told her in a hushed tone.
"Yeah, that's not exactly what she needs right now." Pansy was getting the wrong idea of the situation. "She's wasted."
"Do you really think that low of me to sleep with someone who can't even walk right?" He sneered at her, a bit offended.
"Oh. Is—is that not what you're doing?" She felt idiotic.
"I'm just getting her safely to bed." He assured her as she nodded, stopping herself from entering the bedroom. Draco pulled the duvet down from the bed and assisted Ophelia in. As he began to walk away, a tight grip landed around his wrist and he turned back to see Ophelia staring up at him. He sat himself beside her.
"Thank you." She yawned, closing her eyes.
"It's not a problem." He assured her, placing his hand on the blanket over her body. "Get some rest, alright? You're going to be feeling this one in the morning."
"Okay." She nodded, as he stood up, heading toward the door. "I love you, Draco." She mumbled with a sigh. He stopped in his place for a moment, before walking out of view.
"Draco," Pansy followed after him. "Draco!" She shouted, causing him to halt to a stop.
"What?" He asked, in a harsh tone.
"You need to take it easy on her. She's not exactly doing well, and I'm not sure what's going on with her but it's much greater than you and I. There's something she's struggling with and she won't tell me. But she has these nightmares almost every night, and I don't think she can handle anymore heartbreak." Pansy said in a motherly tone to him. "Either be kind to her, or leave her the fuck alone."
"Got it, Parkinson." He snapped back, and she watched as he descended down the stairs and into the crowd of people. She glanced back at a sleeping Ophelia, and sighed. She was desperate to figure out what was going on with her, and she would do anything to get it out. She just needed time.