𝑴𝑨𝑳𝑬𝑫𝑰𝑪𝑻𝑼𝑺,𝑯𝑷,𝑨𝑼

xxii.

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Christmas

Ophelia decided to join the Christmas celebration with the Potters, Weasleys, and Lupin-Black's. She thought that Harry needed the company since the incident with Mr.Weasley. Harry seemed to be on edge at all times and was only getting worse by the second.

James and Lily kept an eye on Harry at all times and that seemed to tick off the young boy, even more, Ophelia then tried her best to keep James' attention off the boy for a while so Harry had the opportunity to get some space.

Harry told them about his nightmare, how he saw himself from the snake's perspective, how he watched from the inside as the snake tried to kill Arthus. And Ophelia got washed over with a great wave of guilt. She had been in that situation, more times than she wished, she had felt the feeling of being o the inside watching, except for Harry it was a dream, and for Ophelia, it was her life.

Celia had gone home for the holiday to spend it with her parents, and Ophelia understood that even those she missed her greatly she would probably have done the same.

Ophelia was not keeping her eyes in front of her as she entered the doorway to the dining room, she kept her eyes on the book she held in her hand but she got cut off when someone bumped into her.

She looked up from her book and was met by the eyes of a grinning Fred Weasley. She raised her eyebrow suspiciously at him noticing the mischievous glint in his eyes.

"What has gotten you so happy?" she asked him with suspiciousness lacing her voice. Fred only smirked at her before pointing his finger upwards, Ophelia looked up t the ceiling above them and was met by the view of a green plant. A mistletoe.

You see, some people would have just walked away, but this was a magic mistletoe, you were stuck until some person made the move. James watched the interaction with squinted eyes, he felt an overwhelming feeling of overprotectiveness seeing his daughter in that situation.

Ophelia rolled her eyes at Fred who was convinced that he would receive a kiss on the lips, instead she gripped his shoulder and out a fast peck on his cheek. The mistletoe disappeared and Ophelia passed the disappointed boy with a pat on the shoulder.

"Better luck next time carrot," she told him before taking her seat by the table. George laughed at his twin's expression and a smug grin made its way up to James' face.

The dinner was lovely, the food was amazing and Ophelia found herself having a great time chatting with Lily Evans.

"So, Ophelia, how do you celebrate Christmas in Spain?" Lily asked her, Ophelia found herself smiling softly at the old Christmas memory she had from her town.

"Oh it's amazing, quite different from here, there are loads of different traditions, lots of colors, amazing food and so much music," Ophelia told the curios redhead. Lily had taken a great liking to the younger girl, she may not be the mother of her, but since Ophelia was now a part of the family Lily found herself hoping to become a mother figure in her life.

After all, Lily had always wanted a daughter. James smiled seeing the two women get along. Ophelia had become an important part of James's life and she seemed to fit right into the family. She had protected and comforted Harry when he needed it, just like an older sibling should.

She and Lily had bonded these last couple of days over their love for books, and how Ophelia loved spending time alone studying in the library. She and Sirius shared their traumatic childhood and could understand each other's pain without words.

Ophelia had found out about Remus's condition, she felt sympathy for the man and instantly got attached to him, feeling safe that she wasn't the only beast in the house. They both loved chocolate and could talk about different flavors for hours.

And then there was James and Ophelia, altho the connection had been rocky at the start they seemed to build up their relationship slowly but surely. Ophelia was scared tho because now everything had become so much more complicated, how would they react when they found out?

Would they hater her? would they feel disgusted by just looking at her? would they want to kick her out from the family? such thoughts lingered in the young girl's head, she was filled with dread.

---

"Here you go," James said as he placed a small package in the hand of Ophelia, the girl froze as she looked down at the gift. She and Celia had a no-gift policy in their friendship, therefore making this the first Christmas present Ophelia Lecter ever received.

Tears formed in her eyes as she looked up to her father, "you sure?" she asked him hesitantly, James nodded with a warm smile, and Ophelias eyes once again averted to the small package laying in her hand.

Slowly she unraveled the paper from the package, it was a red velvet box and with shaky hands she slowly opened it. She gasped a little when she saw the beautiful necklace inside. It had a golden gem on it with a silver chain. When she touched the necklace it instantly changed to a beautiful yellow color. She furrowed her eyebrows in confusion and looked up at James.

"It's a mood necklace, it changes color depending on how you're a feeling, it was my moms and when she gave it to me she said teat she wanted it to go to my daughter. I never had the opportunity to give it away since we had a boy instead, but now here you are. My own daughter" he explained while taking the necklace from her hands, he locked the chain around her neck and Ophelia looked down at it.

She ten locked eyes with James and pulled him into a warm hug, James quickly put his arms around his daughter while feeling his shoulder dampen a little.

"Thank you, this is the first Christmas present I have ever received, so thank you, it's beautifull" she told him with tears streaming down her face. James gripped her tighter, feeling both happyvthat she liked it but also sad about the fact that she had never received a gift before.

She's seventeen for Merlins sake and have never gotten a gift, and it was in that moment that James decided that all her other christmases in her life would be the best ones in her life.

But what he didn't know in that moment was that Ophelia didn't have many more Christmas to celebrate.