Hiraeth // draco malfoy

TEN.2

two men, one girl

Blaise waited for Ophelia to come down to the common room for twenty minutes. They weren't late or anything, he just didn't take as long to get ready. One thing he found annoying was waiting for Pansy and Ophelia. They always took so long and he grew tired of it fast. But, when she came down, he understood why it took that long. He smiled at her, seeing she actually wore something pretty nice for the Slug Club dinner. The two of them figured since they were the only Slytherin students invited, and they were best friends, that they'd just go there together. Saves from the embarrassment of walking in alone and awkwardly while everyone stares at you. Neither of them really cared for that kind of attention. Pansy liked when she was the center of everyone's focus, and clearly Draco did as well— or used to. But Ophelia and Blaise preferred to keep to themselves and try and keep others attention away from them. "You ready to get this over with?" She asked and he grinned.

"Glad to hear I'm not the only one dreading this." He said as they exited the common room and began walking up the stairwell to the main hall.

"I hate dinner parties."

"Oh believe me, I know. Remember when Narcissa invited us all over for one two years ago and you pretended to be sick so you hid in the toilet half the time?" He laughed and she rolled her eyes.

"Lucius was in a mood, and I did not want to deal with Draco's daddy issues, okay?" She defended her prior actions as they approached the door to the room the dinner was in. Blaise opened it, letting Ophelia enter first and she quickly looked to see at least half the guests were already there. Including Hermione and Harry. She could have guessed that golden boy Potter would have an invite to something like this. It was practically like everything just got handed to him. After Slughorn welcomed them in, she sat herself next to Blaise and one of the empty chairs. "Did you bring it?" She suddenly asked Blaise, who glanced down at his lap and she followed his train of sight, seeing the flask. Taking her cup from the table, she leaned forward on her elbows and held the cup just under the table line. Blaise poured in the firewhisky, before she pulled it up to her lips and took a big gulp. Blaise then filled his own cup, before drinking himself.

The sound of the door startled Ophelia slightly, but when she saw who entered, she felt she could sink into her chair and disappear for good. Cormac made direct eye contact with her, and then hurried over to the empty chair on her left. "Ophelia." He smiled and she nodded, uncomfortably, forcing a smile before drinking more from her glass. "Didn't think you'd be here." She narrowed her eyes at him, offended.

"And why is that? Because you think I can't pass my classes or because I'm a woman?" She snapped, as Blaise peered over at them, somewhat amused.

"I just didn't know if you took potions this year?" He questioned, confused by the hostility in her tone. She cowered back into her seat.

"Oh. Right." She muttered as Blaise let out a stifled laugh while sipping on his glass.

"So, tell me, Cormac, you see anything of your uncle Tiberius these days?" Slughorn asked, and they all looked to him.

"Yes, sir. I'm meant to go hunting with him over the holidays." He responded, smirking down at Ophelia, who cringed.

"Miss Granger." Slughorn began, looking to Hermione, "what is it that your parents do in the muggle world?" Blaise and Ophelia looked over at her, wondering as well.

"My father's a dentist." She said, pleasantly, and many of the other students grew confused by this statement. "He tends to people's teeth." She blushed, nervously.

"Must be strange," Blaise leaned over and muttered to Ophelia. She looked over at him, confused. "Being a muggle-born surrounded by half-bloods and pure-bloods." He snickered and she rolled her eyes at him, nudging his shoulder with hers, playfully. Cormac, with a face full of food, leaned in as well.

"What're you doing after this?" He asked and she sighed.

"Cormac, I'm not hanging out with you." She whispered to him. He shrugged, not seeming phased by it at all, and figuring he'd just try again another time.

"Ophelia, how is your mother doing? Still working on her potions?" Slughorn now asked her and she abruptly dropped the flask she had just briefly grabbed from Blaise, to her lap and covered it with a napkin. Harry and Hermione both noticed this and chuckled to themselves.

"Yes, yeah. She spends all her time experimenting and such." Ophelia nodded, really wishing that the subject would divert to someone else's family now.

"Miss Pierce's mother is a very skilled potions maker." Slughorn now told the table and she really wanted to leave even more so now. "Always coming up with new things. Wonderful work!" The door suddenly opened once again, and a puffy-eyed Ginny Weasley came into view, warranting Harry to emerge from his chair. Ophelia and Blaise glanced up at him, confused on that reaction. But Ophelia was so thankful Ginny interrupted, taking the attention off of her.

"What do you think Weasley's upset about?" Blaise asked her and she shook her head.

"No idea."

"Her and Dean have been fighting a lot lately." Cormac began, leaning into them once again and joining their conversation as they both glanced over at him, annoyed. "Practically everyone can hear it at night."

"Nobody asked you, McLaggen." Ophelia grumbled and he still was not getting the fact that he was driving her insane. She glanced across the table to Ginny, who looked over at her for a quick moment. 'You okay?' She mouthed and Ginny forced a nod. Even if the two of them weren't particularly friends, per say, Ophelia had spent a lot of time with Fred during the summer before breaking up, and she did care for the Weasley family. Even if it didn't align with her friends opinions on them.

When the dinner party let out, Ophelia and Blaise went back to the common room, where Pansy and Draco sat in the common room, both reading different choices of literature. Pansy had been studying, because she really wanted to impress her father by raising her grades. Draco on the other hand, held a Daily Prophet and read it from front to back. He found himself reading them daily just to see if there was anything about his father. Many people didn't realize that's what he was always doing, but Ophelia knew it. And she felt sorry for him. Even if Lucius was borderline abusive to his son, Draco truly loved and cared for his father and Ophelia knew that family meant a great deal to him— it was all he truly had. She walked over to the sofa, and sat herself beside him, quietly. He briefly looked over at her and she gave a small smile in return. There was no reason to say anything right now, and it felt perfectly fine.