The pendulum of the oak grandfather clock in the emerald green room swung back and forth in time with the repetitive ticking noise that Ophelia Malfoy had grown used to. Ophelia was reading through her Hogwarts acceptance letter for the seventeenth time since she received it that morning by owl. A small smile appeared on her lips as she read through which materials she was required to bring, most of which she had already covered with her tutor, she had the brains to be a Ravenclaw but out of fear of her life, she knew she had to be a Slytherin. A small knock on her bedroom door snapped her attention away from the letter to see her brother standing there,
"I'm pretty sure you have read that letter more times than McGongall has written them now" He laughed before sitting down on the bed next to her as he lifted it from her hands, "That clock really is infuriating, you know that right?" He shot a glare at the tall clock
"Well I happen to love it, and I just want to ensure I haven't missed anything important." She said taking it back and folding it neatly and placing it on her bedside table, "Is there a reason you decided to grace me with your presence, or did you just come up to complain about my clock?" She said looking at him with a smirk.
"Oh yes, Mother says you've to get ready for dinner. It's being served at five o'clock tonight instead of six, Father has some of his colleagues coming over" He said, he turned his head to look at the clock "So you've got an hour, you're gonna need it," He laughed as he sniffed and scrunched his face up before smirking back
"Oh you cheeky.." She hit him with her pillow "I do not smell!" She laughed as Draco rolled off her bed with his hands up in a surrender, "Be grateful I am not armed with my wand or I'd jinx you into next week" Ophelia smirked at him
"Oh my dearest Lia, you couldn't if you tried" He laughed before bolting out the room as she threw her pillow at him. She flopped back onto her bed and lay for a few minutes pondering if things would change between them when she went to Hogwarts and didn't get sorted into Slytherin. The repetitive ticking pulled her out her trance as she began to prepare for dinner.
Ophelia pushed the pins back into her hair to hold her bun in place as she looked in the mirror. She had her mother's grace and looks, as well as the distinct Malfoy blonde hair, however unlike Draco and Lucius whose hair was almost white, her hair was the same shade of blonde as her mothers. She was beautiful, her complexion was perfect as was her figure but Lucius insisted she wore a corset as all pureblooded women should. She shoved the last pin in and walked down to the dining room taking her seat on the left side of the table next to Draco,
"You look beautiful my dear" Narcissa smiled at her, "Is that the dress from Twilfitt and Tatting's?"
"No, this one is from Madam Malkins" Ophelia smiled, Narcissa nodded slightly, while she had to admit the dress was beautiful, her upbringing had engraved in her head that a pureblood such as herself only deserved the best such as robes from high-end shops such as Twilfitt and Tatting's. Once Lucius joined them at the table, she snapped her fingers and the table was flourished with their meal for the evening. As always the meal was eaten with hardly any communication, there were a few odd questions from Narcissa to Lucius about his work but the Malfoy family weren't the type for jolly chit chat. Towards the end of the meal, Ophelia's napkin blew off her lap and as she reached for it with one hand she used the other to hold onto the table, the result of which was the tablecloth being pulled and the glasses knocking over and spilling over the food and the family as well as Lucius' bottle of Firewhiskey falling to the ground and smashing
"For Merlin's sake!" Lucius snapped, using his napkin to wipe the excess spillage off himself "Can you not compose yourself with enough decorum to get through one meal Ophelia?!" He questioned angrily, "My Firewhiskey! Oh for... Honestly you are more trouble than this family needs."
"Lucius, it was an accident." Narcissa said trying to help clear up as she bit her lip anxiously. Lucius' temper had grown worse as time had went on, he had became more agitated with the children, Ophelia in particular, and a few times he had raised his hand as well as his wand.
"That is no excuse! She complains of being treated as a child then does this? Aren't you going to apologise for disrupting our meal? Look at me when I am talking to you Ophelia!" He shouted at her, "Honestly, this is not how a Malfoy composes themselves..."
"But I am not a Malfoy am I? You made that clear last year, didn't you?" Ophelia said calmly through gritted teeth not breaking eye contact with Lucius as the memory flooded back into her mind...
It was a few days after her tenth birthday, she had been given a broom from her parents and Ophelia was overjoyed, she had an uncanny love for Quidditch. She was outside trying to learn to fly, she had so far managed to hover a few feet off the ground but she now felt confident enough to try and moved left and right. The result of this trail was a smashed chandlier in the Malfoy Manor foyer, a broken broom and a very very angry Lucius Malfoy.
"You insolent child! No, I don't want to hear your excuses Ophelia. There is no excuse! What on earth compelled you to try this without any supervision" Lucius snapped at the crying Ophelia who was being comforted by her mother and eleven year old brother. "I swear to Merlin, this is all the evidence needed to prove you aren't mine." He muttered a little too loudly
"Lucius!" Narcissa snapped as both children questioned Lucius on what his previous statement meant. Within the hour, both Lucius and Narcissa had sat with the children and explained what he had meant.
"During the first war, your father was given a task by the Dark Lord, which he failed to complete. This was a few months after you had been born Draco, as punishment for his incompetence after the Dark Lord punished him, he gave your father an ultimatum, allow me to carry the child of the Dark Lord and raise this child as our own if the Dark Lord was unable to and to await his return, or to let Greyback have his way with me and watch..." Narcissa started, when Draco went to protest she stopped him "Your father made the more humane choice, we had both seen how Greyback treated his companions. By the end of that year I had given birth to a baby girl..." Narcissa said with tears in her eyes "That baby girl was you Ophelia, you are my daughter, and you are Draco's sister and you will always be part of our family, but your father is Lord Voldemort." She said reaching for her daughters hand...
"Lia..." Draco groaned knowing no good could come from what had just been said. Lucius slammed his fist on the table making all the cutlery jump as well as the rest of those presence
"Do not dare think because you are not my child that I will not hesitate in teaching you your place girl! This is my house and I will not have you disrespecting me in my own home, I put a roof over your head, I feed you, clothe you and treat you as my own!" He snapped at Ophelia who seemed to remain quite calm, "You are a Malfoy until your father returns and tells you otherwise! But oh how grateful I am that you are not mine, I wouldn't want such an insolent brat for a daughter"
"If he returns, and trust me I am grateful too" she said as she continued to cut up her steal, she made eye contact with Lucius as she placed the piece of meat between her teeth.
"Right!" He snapped and grabbed her by the collar and dragged her away from the table and to her room, he pulled her up the stairs as she protested,
"Get off me!" She snapped, usually he slapped her at the table and got it over and done with, he shoved her into her room and slammed the door behind him.
Draco who had been sitting at the table made a move to go to his little sister's aid hearing her cries as his father's cane collided with her body, but Narcissa grabbed his arm and shook her knowing that if Draco ran up things would only become worse. After a few minutes Lucius returned to the table which had been cleaned by the house elves and continued to eat as if nothing had happened, leaving Ophelia in her room crying and isolated from the world.