An : I know I said I'd be updating more regularly, but these last few chapters have not been easy to write, I'm really sad that it's coming to the end... so I'm trying to procrastinate it -.-
Much love to the guys who've been here from the start, and those who have recently joined us.

Chapter 37
I like to keep my issues strong
It's always darkest before the dawn

She assumed convincing him to speak to Dumbledore would be hard.

And it was.

With the full moon approaching, it took all the patience she could possibly muster to try and convince him.

Draco looked more nervous then annoyed that Ophelia had gone and spoken to Albus Dumbledore about his decision to leave his shady past and his family behind and take refuge with Ophelia and her father.

"B-but what did he say? what does he want to talk to me about?" he asked, his voice tense, frightened.
Ophelia placed a narrow finger over his lips as he made to speak again.
"Ssh... seriously Draco, calm down. Dumbledore probably just wants to talk to you about it, find out why you want to leave home. If you're genuine." her voice was tired and it made him look at her properly.
He had never seen her look so tired, he new her transformation was coming up, but the stress of the past few weeks had really been taking a toll on her.

"What if he doesn't believe me?" Draco blurted out, looking remarkably childish before Ophelia's eyes.

Ophelia snorted, "Then I'll just steal you away and keep you in my wardrobe." she grinned.
Despite himself, Draco threw her a wan smile.

Ophelia continued, "To be honest, there's only two bedrooms in the house, and I seriously doubt Moony's going to let us share a bed so you might just have to live in the wardrobe." she chuckled and leaned forward to press her lips against his in a tentative gesture.

This drew a not altogether forced laugh out of the young Malfoy.

"Have you told him?" he asked as their lips parted.
"What?" Ophelia frowned, wrapping her arms around his neck.

The Astronomy Tower was wonderfully empty and the perfect place to view the wonderfully clear night sky.
Millions of stars twinkled above their heads through the open roof.
In truth it was a romantic spot that the couple had taken too after Ophelia began to feel that the room of Requirement was too obvious a place.

"Have you told your father." Draco repeated, looking at her from beneath a thick frame of heavy eyelashes.
Ophelia blinked slowly, she often reminded him of an owl, her big round eyes looking past flesh and bone, down into the depths of the soul that Draco so often tried to hide away from the world.

"Not exactly. Professor Dumbledore wants to talk to the Order first. but maybe I should write to him." she murmured thoughtfully.

Draco's eyes narrowed, "What if he doesn't want me there. What if he doesn't want you involved with me?" he asked her.

Ophelia shook her head, "It's not his choice Draco." she said softly, but with an air of conviction that made Draco smile.
Licking his lower lip, he nodded, "Are you sure?" he asked her quietly.

Ophelia rolled her eyes, "No Draco. I'm going to bring you home and forget about you. I'm going to make you live in the cupboard with Sirius's house elf." she fought a smile.
Draco laughed aloud, and tightened his grip on her.

"Thank you." he said earnestly.
Ophelia didn't answer, she merely pressed her lips against his cheek.

"I'll go talk to him."
"And I'll write to Moony."

On Thursday Ophelia spent a free period dwelling on what she was going to say to her father, when she truly should have been studying.
Q.W.L.'s were drawing ever closer, but Ophelia had never found her mind father from her studies.

Draco had excused himself from the free period, and Ophelia knew he was going to talk to Professor Dumbledore, and as he glanced back at her, Ophelia threw him an encouraging smile.

She was staring at a particularly interesting cobweb on the ceiling when she felt something brush her fingers.
Glancing down she saw a brown envelope on her desk, Professor Snape was walking away from her, back turned, scanning the hall for any talking students.

She frowned at the envelope. There was no name on it.
Slipping her fingers beneath the seal she tore it open discreetly, checking to see if anyone was watching.
The rest of the fifth years were far to absorbed in their studies to even pay the slightest bit of attention to the pale werewolf.

Inside sat a thin piece of reed parchment, she unfolded it and her heart thumped wildly at the sight of familiar handwriting.

If you're serious about this, bring your friend to the last place we met on Saturday afternoon.
Same time.
You should borrow a cloak.

Moony

She read and re-read the letter several times.
Clearly he wanted to talk with Draco.
The place and time were obvious.

But the last line of the letter confused her.

"Borrow a cloak?"
She glanced around the room, wondering to herself, when a flash of green stopped her.
Harry was smiling at her from across the room.

Borrow a cloak...

He stuck out his tongue briefly and she smiled.

Borrow a cloak...

She returned the gesture then stopped.

Of course! You're a genius dad! She thought gleefully.
Harry's invisibility cloak would insure that nobody saw them together, making the trip down a whole lot safer for them.

She wondered briefly how she would ask Harry for his cloak? Should she bite the proverbial bullet and ask him outright if she and Draco could borrow it?
Ophelia was still on the fence about Harry's feelings on Draco's swapping sides.

She wasn't sure if something like this would set him off or not.

A frown coloured her face, and she stared at the parchment on her desk and chewed the inside of her mouth. She ran her hand threw her hair. She was so tired, the full moon was falling the following night and her energy was at an all time low. Her head throbbed feebly with the effort of thinking.

In truth she was sick of trying to please everyone, trying to keep Harry happy, trying to coax her father into accepting Draco, trying to explain herself to Dumbledore, it was all becoming a bit much.

"Dismissed."

For once Ophelia was incredibly grateful for the interruption of Severus Snape's slow drawl.
Mechanically, she got to her feet and packed away her books, she had Charms next, and Professor Flictwick was always sympathetic this time of the lunar cycle.

"Are you alright?"

Ophelia blinked and glanced up, Harry was frowning at her from the front of her desk as the classroom emptied.
"Just tired." she shrugged.
"Full moon tomorrow." Harry nodded understandingly.

"Lupin." Snape appeared over Harry's shoulder, a cold look on his face as he drew a golden goblet from his cloak and placing it on the desk.
"Your potion." he said begrudgingly.

Ophelia threw him a tired smile, "Thank you Professor."
Snape made a sound dangerously close to a "Humph!" and stalked off, his curtain of greasy black hair following.

Harry peered into the steaming goblet and his frown deepened.

"Cheers." Ophelia shrugged and picked up the goblet and brought it to her lips.
Harry watched with a tilted head as she slugged the whole goblet, then put it back on the table with a distinctive 'clink'.
Ophelia gave a feeble shudder at the vile taste of the bitter of the potion.

"Hey Harry." she said, surprising herself, "I couldn't ask you a huge favour could I?"
Harry blinked, then nodded, "Of course, what is it?"

"I couldn't borrow your cloak on Saturday could I? Moony wants to meet in Hogsmeade and he wants me to stay hidden?" she chewed the inside of her lip.

More lies Ophelia? a sly voice purred from the back of her mind.
I have to.She tried to reason, but was met with a soft chuckle.

Hiding her disconcertion, she returned her attention to Harry.

"My cloak? Em... sure thing." he smiled, nodding at her.
Ophelia beamed at him, "Ah great, cheers Harry!"

She didn't get a chance to talk to Draco until much later that evening, but to her surprise, he was very quiet on what he and Dumbledore had discussed.

"Seriously Ophelia." he sighed, sounding mildly exasperated when she questioned him for what much have been the fifth time.
"He just asked me a few questions, like if I was sure about this, and just other crap like that." he explained.

Ophelia rolled her eyes and leaned against the wall, "But you were gone for so long." she pursed her lips.
"Babe we just talked, you probably know more then I do." he leaned over to place a hand on her cheek.
Ophelia nodded, barely seeming convinced.

"Moony wants to meet up." she whispered, watching him through her tired eyes.

She noticed him straighten up slightly.

"When?" his voice was tight.
"Saturday afternoon."

Draco nodded once.
"W-where?" he tensed as he stammered.

"The Hogs Head." Ophelia told him, she reached up to take the hand that was holding her cheek.
"It'll be fine Draco." she promised him.

"He probably hates me." Draco sighed, staring at the floor.
Ophelia rolled her eyes, "Moony doesn't hate you Draco." she said patiently.

"Will I come get you on Saturday morning?"

Ophelia nodded, "If you'd like." she smiled wearily, and moved into his embrace, burying her head in his shirt.

When Friday rolled around, Ophelia was feeling utterly miserable.
Her hair hung around her face, a curtain behind which she tried to hide away from the other students. She was so pale that she blended in with the white walls of Professor Mc Gonagall's classroom.

Most of the teachers had the common sense to leave Ophelia alone, knowing well that she would be at her most volatile on the day of her transformation.
Even Harry, Ron and Hermione said very little to her, so much to her relief, Ophelia was left alone.
Her stomach lurched and twisted uncomfortably, as another cramp made her wince.

The day passed quickly, and Ophelia tried not to think about the growing mountain of study she had to do.
She managed only half an hour of actual study when she decided to go to Madame Pomfrey, she had an awful feeling that the night ahead of her was not going to be easy. She took Harry's cloak, telling them that she would leave the Shrieking Shack and head straight to Hogsmeade.

Over the years she had come to notice that her transformations varied according to the preceding month.
If it was a restful month, like a summer month where her days were spent relaxing and reading, her transformations generally not bad, however, when they were stressful and filled with anxious moments, such as the month she had just spent, her transformations were difficult and painful.

"Ophelia. You're early." the Matron looked puzzled when Ophelia shuffled into the hospital wing, with Harry's cloak tucked under her arm.
Ophelia nodded numbly, "Can I go now?" she whispered hoarsely.

Madame Pomfrey nodded slowly, "Of course Miss Lupin."