Cory was laying on his back in his front lawn when Ophelia came to see him.
"We have a problem," she said.
"No, you have a problem. I have an idiot who keeps getting into one," Cory corrected, not even opening his eyes.
She sat down in the grass, ignoring what he had just said.
"I might've accidentally kissed Snape," she confessed.
Cory choked on his saliva, sitting up and coughing until Ophelia was rolling her eyes at him.
"Shit.." was all he said.
"Yes," Ophelia agreed, "shit indeed."
"So.. you like him, then?" Cory frowned.
"I mean," Ophelia threw her hands out in the air, "I don't know, maybe."
Cory smirked, "sounds like love to me."
She sighed as she fell back onto the grass, "ah, I don't know.. he makes my heart go fast."
And then they were quiet for some time.
"Ophelia," Cory said, "he's your Professor.."
"Not yet," she interrupted.
"Still," he said gently, "you're setting yourself up for heartbreak."
Ophelia licked her lips, "I know."
"Ophelia!"
She looked up and saw Teddy heading towards them, a big smile on his face.
Shit.
"What's he doing here?" She whispered.
"We started talking at Margot's, turns out he's a good laugh," Cory waved at him, "we're going to see a film."
"Oh.. great," Ophelia pulled her lips into a thin line.
She liked Teddy, he seemed like a decent guy, but the more she knew about him the more information her father could pry from her.
"Are you joining us?" Teddy sat down in front of them.
"Oh, no, I was just coming to talk to Cory."
"Isn't that what phones are for?" He smirked.
"You'd think, wouldn't you?" Ophelia scoffed, she was almost nineteen years old and her parents still dictated her contact with the outside world.
Teddy smiled and pulled out a joint from his cigarette packet, "are you sure you don't want to join us?"
Ophelia took a deep breath, thinking back to everything that's happened over the last couple of weeks and everything that was about to happen in the future; Midsummer at Malfoy Manor, going back to school.. facing Snape.
"Alright," she said and accepted the joint from Teddy.
𖠇
Cory had been right, Teddy was pretty cool. He had invited them home after the high had settled, since his mother was out of town, but Cory had declined. So Ophelia and Teddy were sitting out on his patio, deciding what to drink.
"Alright, I have half a bottle of tequila and a whole bottle of.. this green stuff," Teddy held up the options.
"I vote green stuff," Ophelia said and took the bottle from him.
"Bold move," he grinned.
"Thank you," she smiled and took a sip from the bottle.
"So," Teddy said.
"So," Ophelia breathed.
"Where'd you run off to the other night? You know, at the party?"
"I just went home."
"You don't have to pretend with me, Ophelia," he smirked, "I saw who you were with."
Ophelia's breath got stuck in her throat. Had he seen her with Snape? Did he know she had kissed him?
He saw her panicked expression and smiled, "don't worry, there's nothing wrong with having a bit of fun before school starts."
She licked her lips, appreciative of his calm approach but weary of how much she could trust him.
"You should be careful around him, though," Teddy took a sip of tequila, "I've heard some bad things about him and his family."
Ophelia frowned, "his family? What about them?"
He shrugged, "they were death eaters, had a pretty big part in the war."
She wished she could say she was surprised, but she had always sensed there was something dark about Severus.
"Do you think he is?"
"I don't know," he breathed, leaning back and looking out into his backyard.
The sun was about to set and the sky illuminated his face with different shades of orange.
"I guess he had to be, because of his parents.. now? I'm not so sure."
Ophelia nodded, taking a big gulp from her bottle. The liquor burned in her throat but warmed the rest of her body. She wanted to believe Severus was good, but how could she judge him if he was not?
"I don't know how to feel about that," she put her feet up on her chair and hugged her legs close to her chest.
"I don't think you have to feel anything, not yet, anyways," he looked at her with sparkling brown eyes, more soft than she knew eyes could be.
She smiled as she rested her head on her knees. She felt so peaceful around him, like there was nothing he could say that would make her feel that fiery rage she always felt in her own house.
Teddy pulled out his cigarettes and offered her one, she gladly took it and leaned towards him as he held the lighter for her.
"Speaking of which," he said before lighting his own.
Ophelia exhaled, "speaking of what?"
"Of Draco," he raised his eyebrows, "the guy you were with yesterday."
Oh.
Oh.
"Right, he just never told me his name," she smiled and shook her head.
Teddy laughed, but there was no judgment. And even though their conversation made less sense to her now, she appreciated his honesty.
"Are you going to the Midsummer's event at his house on saturday?"
"Wait," she sat up straight, "he's a Malfoy?"
"Oh, so you know who they are?"
"I wouldn't say that, but yes.. I'm going."
"Great, at least I'll know one person there," he smiled, putting on his sunglasses.
"You'd know Snape, though," she took another drag of her cigarette, tilting her head backwards and exhaling.
"But he's not as fun as you, is he?"
Ophelia laughed, "I would hope not."
"Give me your number," Teddy said, reaching into his pocket.
She shook her head, "I don't have my phone."
"Oh," Teddy paused, "you're better off, can't take it to Hogwarts anyways."
"Why not?"
"Witches and wizards don't particularly.. mix well with muggle technology, is all," he explained.
Ophelia frowned, "how do they not mix well? It's just a phone."
"Well, there was this one incident in 72' a few years after the fax machine was invented," Teddy said, "Madam Malkin's in Diagon Alley-"
"I have no idea what any of those words mean."
"Right," Teddy laughed. "Diagon Alley is a shopping street, and Madam Malkin sells robes on that street. Anyways, she had a psychotic break when her fax machine suddenly malfunctioned, burning half the place down and landed herself a year in St Mungo's Hospital in the process."
Ophelia scoffed, "I don't believe that for a second."
Teddy's hands shot up in the air, "it's the absolute truth."
"But that's insane! Like, eating all the raisins out of the trail mix and leaving the M and Ms insane."
Teddy laughed, "hence the trip to St Mungo's."
"So," Ophelia breathed, "does Margot know? About the wizarding world, I mean."
He shook his head, "Merlin, no, she wouldn't be able to keep it a secret."
"So how are you going to explain going to Hogwarts in September?"
"Boarding school," he shrugged. "We break up every year, anyways."
"I'm sorry?"
"We have this agreement," Teddy explained, "we're together for the summer and break up when school starts, been that way for as long as I can remember."
"And that works for you?"
"So far," he smiled. "I'm assuming Cory doesn't know, either?"
Ophelia shook her head.
"Good," Teddy put out his cigarette, "he's too driven by his emotions, wouldn't think about what it would mean if he let it slip out."
"Are you always this calm and collected?"
He chuckled, "that's just the tequila talking, I can lose my cool sometimes."
"I find that hard to believe."
"It's actually one of the things Margot dislikes about me," he ran a hand through his hair.
"What is?"
"That I'm so calm all the time."
"Maybe she doesn't want you to want to break up every year."
"Perhaps."
Ophelia was quiet, taking a last sip of her drink and putting her cigarette out, deciding it was time to go. She didn't know how much she dared to trust Teddy yet, but she was beginning to think he could be a friend.
𖠇
Her mother was in the kitchen when Ophelia came home that night.
"Do we have any ice cream?" She asked, opening the freezer.
"Healthy choice," her mother said under her breath.
Ophelia pulled her lips into a thin line, then closed the freezer and walked out to the backyard. She sat down on the bench by the pond, ready to light a cigarette when Ana called her name. Ophelia hid the cigarette in her pocket before Ana reached her.
"What are you doing?" She asked as she sat down next to her, dangling her legs in the air.
"Just enjoying the view," Ophelia smiled at her sister.
Ana smiled, "do you want to watch a movie with me?"
She shook her head slowly, "I'm sorry, Ana, I have some things to do."
"You always have other things to do.." Ana sighed, "Peter would have watched with me."
"Ana.." Ophelia said, but she was already gone. She walked back into the house without giving her older sister a second look.
Ophelia leaned forward and rested her arms on her legs, feeling deflated. Ana was right, Peter would always do things with her. How he had time to be everyone's favorite, she didn't know.
And suddenly, she was back, back with him in the rain. They were thirteen years old and Ophelia had wanted to go to the park and feed the squirrels, Peter wanted to wait until the next day because his knees told him it would rain. She thought he sounded ridiculous and forced him out of the house. They were only halfway there when the rain started pouring. They took shelter in an alley and curved up under a small roof, trying not to freeze to death.
"Well, I guess we'll have to warm ourselves by the glow of my 'I told you so'," he had said.
He was their first born, seven seconds older than Ophelia, and, though they would deny it, their parent's favorite. Now she could barely think of him for two seconds straight without desperately gasping for air.
She thought about the future, about how she would visit his grave with the flowers they used to plant in the spring and paint in the summer months, and she would remind herself of how her brother used to be. She would try hard to forget every detail of who he was and how he broke her heart into pieces when he left. The last time she saw him, he was already dead.
And she decided then, that she would try harder.