Fatal Attraction | D.M. (Soft Rewrite)

Chapter One - Shell Cottage

Ophelia Delacour hadn't known what to expect when she was packed off to Shell Cottage. Ownership of the family home had transferred in her parent's will, but she couldn't face returning.

She had travelled directly from Beauxbaton to stay with her cousin, unwilling to suffer through the sorting of their possessions or the debates between relatives.

She avoided answering questions concerning her father's archives, or the family jewellery handpicked for her future. She could not play nice with the distant relations who shamelessly reappeared, trying to benefit from her parent's fortune – her inheritance.

It's not that Ophelia was unlikely to share, she just felt disgusted by how quickly every conversation turned to money.

Then, when the start of the new school term drew dangerously close, she had been forced to decide. Returning to Beauxbaton was not an option. Its halls were bound to her pain – the place where she received the news about her father - where she became an orphan.

Losing both her parents in the space of a year had been the most gruesome twist of fate.

She had already endured one school year there shrouded in mourning her mother. She couldn't return, it would feel too much like going backwards. No matter the splendour of her surroundings, her life had felt dull, every emotion diluted by a variety of potions recommended by the school physician.

Fleur had expeditiously weaned her from this dependency when she returned. Taking the responsibility to rock Ophelia to sleep every night while she wept - as everything she'd repressed for a year rushed back to the surface. Then, she would wipe the sweat from her brow when the nightmares finished.

So, it had been an easier choice to transfer to Hogwarts.

Her family name and pureblood status made her a desirable recruit for Durmstrang, but their intimidating reputation was enough to deter her. Then, there was Ilvermorny, which for the rather lame excuse, felt too far away. So, she had decided to fulfil her parent's dream that their daughter would attend Hogwarts.

It was long overdue.

She was left regretting her foolish teenage ideation, which propelled her to follow in the footsteps of her cousins.

While her mother had purchased the Hogwarts robes and encouraged her fascination with the Scottish school, it had been insufficient.

One glance at the brochure for Beauxbaton and she had fallen head-over-heels. Convinced by its beautifully manicured grounds, in the mediterranean climate of Southern France, and a private bedroom in the northern turret of its chateaux.

But now she was left to wonder if this had an impact. If the trajectory of their lives might have diverged from this point.

She clawed at the sand beneath her, letting the grains rush between her fingers. Her anxiety often expressed itself in her hands. Whether she was adjusting her hair or playing with her necklace, her busy mind was betrayed by her actions.

The lapping waves met the tips of her toes and she realised how long she'd been sat on the beach. Enough for the tide to come in...it must have been hours...

Her concept of time had been failing a lot recently. Sometimes she would believe she had only been settled for an hour, to look out the window and discover it was already night. That's what loss does, you just become sort of numb to the world – swallowed by a sinkhole of feelings that you don't even try to escape.

Phi shook her head, god I'm morbid.

She was grateful to Bill and Fleur for letting her stay. The scenery and open space had helped her cope with the suffocating feeling lodged in her chest. Their refuge allowed her to escape reality for a little longer.