𝑡𝘩𝑒 𝑠𝘩𝑎𝑑𝑒'𝑠 𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑢𝑟𝑒𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡, 𝗁.𝗉. 𝗇𝖾𝗑𝗍 𝗀𝖾𝗇.

.fifteen.

Ophelia squinted as the bright light of the outdoors hit her face. She took a few cautious steps toward the stair as she regained clear vision, then raced quickly down them as she headed into the courtyard. It was gorgeous out, sunlight streaming through the leaves of many huge trees that dotted the grounds. Today, however, Ophelia didn't have time to admire the amazing weather. She was on a mission.

As tired as they had been the previous night, Ophelia and Cas managed to agree on the fact that it would be nearly impossible to carry out their plan alone. Since neither of them were exactly looking to die, they immediately had to figure out who they could even think about asking for help. Al was a given, of course, but even he had agreed that still wouldn't be enough. Ophelia had, against her good judgment, suggested they ask Scorpius since he already knew they were dealing with and trying to translate Parseltongue. After some pretty thorough convincing, Cas had conceded to the plan, but only after Ophelia had reluctantly agreed to loop Teddy in as compensation. Ophelia had a feeling that the compromise had a lot less to do with the actual plan than it should've, but a deal was a deal.

It didn't take long for Ophelia to spot Teddy and his entourage since they were easily the loudest people in the courtyard. Luckily, the group was marginally smaller than usual, although she was disappointed to spot a few of her least-favorite followers among them. Swallowing her pride, Ophelia closed the distance between her and the alternate plane of existence the sycophants seemed to be on.

"Hey, Loudmouth!" Ophelia was proud of how confident her voice sounded, barely betraying any fear. The anticipation was annoyingly persistent, anxiety mixing uncomfortably with the butterflies in her stomach that Ophelia was pretty sure had nothing to do with worry.

The chatter stopped, for the most part, and Ophelia's comment got the majority of the group to turn in her direction. She watched as her blue-haired friend turned from rowdy, life-of-the-party Teddy to some uncertain copy of the boy she knew.

"Ophelia?" Teddy questioned, glancing her up and down uncertainty. She was uncomfortable with how much it hurt not to hear her usual nickname coming from him, and yet Ophelia stood her ground. Unfortunately, all anyone else surrounding the two seemed to care about was the fact that Teddy actually knew her name. The first to resurface from the now whispering gossipers was Ian, one of Teddy's most recognizable and insufferable companions. He glanced down at Ophelia with a cruel smirk, just as if she were a bug he was finally about to smash.

"Uh-oh, Teddy, I think goody-two-shoes followed you home," he turned back to one of the girls hanging around, the grin never leaving his face for a second. "Better watch out Maya, I think you might have some competition." The sarcasm seething from his voice made Ophelia reach for her wand on instinct. Scoffing, Ian lazily twirled his between his fingers. "Really thinks she's somethin', huh Teddy?"

Ophelia tightened her grip, fully prepared to stand her ground, even if that did potentially mean getting her ass kicked in front of a bunch of sixth years. Before she could, however, Teddy took a swift step forward, separating the two.

"Cool it, Ian, she's alright." The comment in of itself almost made Ophelia drop her pretense altogether, but she held her head up high. Ian gave his friend a questioning look but said nothing. "What do you want, Phelia?"

Clearing her throat, Ophelia made a point of glancing around the group with pride. "Do you think we could, y' know, talk alone? It's kinda..important." Ophelia gave Teddy as suggestive of a look as she could, even happier to find the confusion and betrayal on Ian's face growing. As Teddy made no move to agree, Ophelia trained her eyes on the ground, thanking her long hair for hiding the blush of embarrassment blooming on her cheeks. "I should go,"