selenophile || remus lupin

chapter seventy nine

17 May 1977

9:47 pm

Ophelia, Remus, and Sirius all sat on the astronomy tower in an uncomfortable silence as they all looked at each other, waiting for one of the others to talk first. Ophelia quickly realized neither of the boys were going to say anything first so she decided to start.

"Remus, we all know why we're here. Why can you see thestrals, love?"

"I could ask you the same question," he replied, knowing her answer would be much darker than his.

"But she asked you first," Sirius said.

"I'm assuming you two have the same story?" Remus asked, getting two nods from the twins in return. "Alright. Well, it was my grandma. A few years back, my family and I, we were visiting her in the hospital to say our goodbyes. She was dying from cancer, a muggle illness, and she passed away while we were there with her."

"I'm so sorry that you had to see that Rem," said Sirius, and Ophelia nodded in agreement.

"Your turn," Remus pushed.

"Alright, um- how do I start this?" Ophelia asked no one in particular.

"When we were growing up," Sirius took over for her. "We were nannied."

"It's very common for pureblood families to hire governesses for their children. That and our mother just didn't want to take care of the three of us."

"Edith Max was her name. The best governess we've ever had. She was a pureblood of course, but she made it her mission to spread diversity through children. She was a governess of a few different pureblood houses. She was well known, beautiful, had opinions that matched our parents', and everyone liked her."

"But it was all a facade. She kept up the strictly pureblood act whenever she was around any adults. But as soon as mother and father left the room, she dropped it. She was the nicest woman you'd ever meet. She treated us well. She fed us, played with us, she acted as a teacher. But the thing that set her apart from all of the other governesses was that she talked to us like we were adults. She made sure we understood, but she taught us about some of the controversial topics of the world. She told us what was going on in the world so we wouldn't be kept in the dark. She shared her views about blood equality and how we shouldn't be prejudiced."

"She sounds wonderful," Remus said.

"She was. She really was," Ophelia agreed.

✩☾✩☽✩

4 April 1966

2:34 pm

"Now, listen very carefully you three. Yesterday your parents had some of their friends over. They are bad, bad people. And do you know why they're bad?" Edith Max asked the three Black children as they were sitting on a sofa in the parlor.

"Because they want to kill mudbloods?" asked a seven year old Ophelia.

"Ophelia, remember, we don't use that word," Edith lightly scolded her.

"Sorry, Miss Edith. Is it because mother and father's friends want to kill muggleborns?"

"Very good word choice. Yes, it's because they believe that people who come from muggles, even if they are witches and wizards, shouldn't be allowed in the wizarding community. Sirius, why does that make them bad people?"

"Because they're killing people just because they aren't of the same status. If they aren't pure, they don't think they should live," the young boy answered.