𝓣𝓱𝓮 𝓖𝓸𝓿𝓮𝓻𝓷𝓮𝓼𝓼 || 𝐋𝐮𝐜𝐢𝐮𝐬 𝐌𝐚𝐥𝐟𝐨𝐲

Chapter 9 - Drowning

"I... I..." Ophelia felt incredibly put on the spot, she had certainly gone to his office to resign from her post, but hearing his honeyed words, seeing the smiling photo of Draco in the cracked frame upon his desk... it was enough to have her second guessing herself.

"I need a moment to think."

Ophelia rushed from Lucius' office for the third time, it was almost ritual now. She quickly made her way down the stairs towards the orangery, and out the glass double doors into the gardens. She took a deep breath of the fresh summer air, as she pushed her curls back out of her face with one hand. Spotting the glistening water in the distance, she decided to go clear her mind in the secluded sanctuary of Malfoy Lake.

Lucius watched her from the window curiously as she walked with purpose through the rose gardens. She clearly had a destination in mind by the confident strides she made. That's when Lucius spotted her direction, she was heading to the lake. He shook his head in disbelief, had she not learnt her lesson of the dangers of the water?

***

Ophelia sat on the grass banking, her chin resting in her hands and she watched the ducks swim about the lakes surface. What was she to do? I should resign, I will resign, she thought to herself firmly, but what about Draco? He needs me, he needs me to guide him through the chaos that is his family. Her mind flashed to Lucius, what about him? I hate him, I hate him so dearly, she told herself, but those kisses, his sweet words... they were straight out of every girl's fantasy. No, she told herself firmly. He is disgusting, repulsive, elitist, piggish, gorgeous, teasing, charismatic, charming. He's married, he's a follower of you-know-who, he tried to force you! But he didn't, he apologised... Her head and heart battled each other constantly as she looked over the lake.

"Why am I like this?" She asked herself with a sigh, "Why must I always fall for the toxic ones?" It was true, in every novel she had read, every muggle movie she watched, she always seemed to levitate towards the bad boy, the toxic guy, the villain. Psychologically she knew there was a reason, it was her parents' untimely death, and being raised by an older brother who was often absent... muggle medicine books had told her that much. They didn't tell her how to cure her blatant deep-rooted issues though.

"What in merlins name do you think you are doing?!" Lucius Malfoy shouted suddenly from behind her. Ophelia turned; her face contorted in confusion.

"I told you... I'm clearing my head, having a moment to think! Can I not have one minute of peace?" She hissed, standing. The back of her cream pleated skirt was green with grass stains.

"By the lake? You are aware you cannot swim, yes?" Lucius sneered as he walked up to her briskly. Before Ophelia could answer him, he began his tirade of abuse. "For a Ravenclaw you really are dim-witted! What if you were to fall in! Unless that was your plan? To drown on my watch, rack me with guilt for the rest of my life?"

"Oh, you are so... so... full of yourself!" Ophelia yelled frustratedly. "To think I would give up my life just to make you feel guilty, you should feel plenty of that already after the other night!"

"You are infuriating! How you ever came to be head girl, I'll never know!" Lucius growled as he stepped closer to her, for every step he took forward, she took one back, until her feet were edging onto the wooden pier.

"Oh, so you've been looking into me, have you?" Ophelia scoffed with rage.

"I had Severus pull your Hogwarts file, prefect, head girl, top of your year, tell me, what went wrong for you to only aspire to teach? You could have been so much more than a governess, or a professor." He told her sharply.