selenophile || remus lupin

chapter seventeen

"Regulus, Ophelia, go upstairs," snapped Walburga immediately upon apparition into Grimmauld Place.

Regulus and Ophelia stood frozen in fear, glancing at Sirius and then each other.

"I won't ask again," she said, venom dripping from her voice.

The two siblings both turned and walked slowly up the dark staircase, Ophelia's hands shaking so much that she had to grab onto the black banister for support.

Her bedroom was sandwiched between her two brothers'. She watched Regulus pass her and keep walking down the hall before giving her an unreadable glance and shutting his door.

She stepped into her own room, eyes scanning the pale green walls, the large bed with a dark green quilt, the fireplace - ashy and cold. Her trunk was already placed against the black footboard of the bed, Ophelia didn't bother unpacking. Not then, not for the rest of the holiday.

She sat down into a stiff green armchair near the fireplace. There was too much green in this room. She had no say as to what was done to it, the decorations, colors, it was whatever her parents wanted.

She glanced to her left at a side table with a book resting on it. She shakily picked up the book and dragged a finger over it, completely covering herself in dust.

Kreacher must have been instructed not to clean their rooms. Of course.

She placed the book back into one of the large bookshelves on either side of the fireplace and sat back down in the armchair. Now, she waited.

And waited.

And waited.

The anticipation was torturing her almost as badly as her parents had in the past. She knew she would be punished, and harshly. She thought of all the detentions she had gotten over the past few months, all the points taken from her house, all of the owls home. She was deep in thought until she got thrown back into reality when she heard a shrill, heartless voice calling her name from downstairs.

She slowly stood up and made her way down the steps. On her way down, she passed Sirius. He wouldn't get beaten as badly as her, but he still looked awful, and that made her worry even more. Ophelia smiled weakly at her brother on the way down receiving a small nod in return.

She felt awful for him. There was nothing she could do to stop it, but she still felt as if she had some responsibility in protecting him from their parents and keeping him out of trouble.

Her mother grabbed her wrist tightly and dragged her into the parlor, where her father was already waiting for the two. She let go of her daughter, closed the door, and muttered, "muffliato".

Shit.

"Ophelia Callidora Black," screamed her mother. "You are an absolute disgrace to the Black family name. The House of Black will forever be ashamed of your unforgivable actions. You dare defy us and waste your time with those filthy mudbloods and blood traitors. They are constantly dragging you into misbehavior and your father and I are the ones who have to pay for it. Your actions cause your father and I to get ridiculed at the ministry, and is making the reputation of The House of Black fall.

"There is absolutely no excuse for you to be getting into such trouble around school. You should be focusing on your studies and taking care of your brothers. You have responsibilities Ophelia, and instead you chose to spend your time with troublesome Gryffindor students who have no pride or reputation to uphold."

Walburga took a step towards Ophelia, making the latter step back. Before she could move back anymore, however, she felt a harsh blow across her cheek, throwing her halfway across the room, her back colliding with the papered walls. She felt something soft trickle down her face. Blood. Her mothers large ring must have cut her.