Disclaimer: I do not support Rowling's views. All Harry Potter characters and the Wizarding World, belong to her.
4 April 1988
Akita Prefecture, Japan
"Wait up!" said Draco, running up the stairs after Ophelia. "I can't move as fast as you can in this!" He hobbled up the stairs dressed in one of Cassius's old yukatas, still not used to the fabric restricting his legs. Despite its Muggle origins, Japanese witches and wizards maintained a strong connection to their cultural background regardless of magical ability.
She giggled, "Hurry up! My grandfather is here," she stormed up the stone steps, nearly ten steps ahead of him, effortlessly climbing the stairs in her own yukata.
Draco huffed, out of breath as he finally caught up to her. "Which one?" he said, clutching his side.
"The oldest one, Ojiichan Kohachi. He's my great-great-granddad," Ophelia pulled on Draco's arm, guiding him through the gates into the Hatakeyama family compound.
Even though they had been staying at the Hatakeyama compound for three days, Draco marveled at the Japanese architecture every time he was able to admire it from the outside. With the last of the winter snow melting, the fresh sakura blossoms lining the road to the main house were beginning to bud.
Before entering the main house, Ophelia stopped Draco from walking further. "Shoes!"
"Right," said Draco. Following Ophelia's example, Draco pulled off his shoes and shuffled into the house slippers the family set aside for indoor use.
"Come on, it's too late to change into kimonos," Ophelia said. She readjusted her obi, making sure the knot behind her back was straightened. Ophelia gave Draco a once over, confirming that he was presentable enough as well.
Leading them through the house, Ophelia stopped at the doors to the formal washitsu. "Um, let me do all the talking."
"You said he speaks English?" Draco said, mouth agape in confusion.
"Yeah, but just- ya know," said Ophelia. Unbeknownst to her parents, Ophelia knew that her great-great-grandfather didn't exactly approve of the Warrington's moving back to the UK. Not to mention the closeness they had to the Malfoy family, something he also didn't necessarily approve of.
Taking one more stabilizing breath, she opened the sliding door and entered the room, Draco trailing closely behind her. Inside, Cassius, her parents, and her Obaachan Annaisha were seated around a table, speaking with the patriarch of the Hatakeyama family.
Side by side, Ophelia and Draco approached the head of the table, stopping beside Kohachi. As Ophelia made Draco practice, the two of them bowed to him. Going a little farther than required, Draco was over a 90-degree angle, his head nearing his knees.
Coming out of their bows, Kohachi had a bright smile on his face. "Toshiko-chan," he said. Kohachi opened his arms and Ophelia rushed to hug him, wrapping her in a warm embrace. He chuckled. "It's been too long!"
"We saw each other for New Year!" Ophelia laughed, settling into a seat at the table. Draco awkwardly slid into the seat between her and Cassius.
"And that's still too long," Kohachi said in jest, yet he carefully glanced at Nicholas and Amara. "It's not too late for Toshiko and Katsuo to enroll at Mahoutokoro for this school year."
Unlike Hogwarts, the Japanese wizarding school began enrollment at the age of seven, allowing them to attend as day students; they weren't allowed to board at Mahoutokoro until they were eleven. Kohachi gently pressed Nicholas and Amara on the subject when Cassius turned seven, but he was especially insistent on Ophelia attending since she was now of age.
Although this wasn't news to Ophelia and Cassius, this was the first time Draco even heard of the possibility of either Warrington sibling not attending Hogwarts. Under the table, she grabbed Draco's hand and interlaced it with her own. With Kohachi's attention on her parents, she carefully shook her head.
Draco visibly relaxed, making Ophelia break into a slight smile. If she was being honest, she actually would much prefer to attend Mahoutokoro over Hogwarts. Despite living in England for nearly four years now, Ophelia considered Japan as her home. It was where she and Cassius had their first memories. Her first steps were right outside of the room they were in. Cassius and Ophelia learned how to fly a broom on the front lawn. She missed seeing her cousins every day and eating her favorite foods.
It wasn't like Ophelia hated living in England, but she didn't care for her other 'friends.' Pansy, Tracey, and Millie were quite disrespectful at times, while Vincent and Gregory were rather boorish all the time. Blaise was too forward and Daphne was always haughty. And this was based only on their personality, let alone the intense notions of blood purity and financial superiority they bemoaned about in comparison to other wizarding families in Britain. The entire Hatakeyama family fortune was probably worth more than all of them combined, and Ophelia never bragged about that.
The only person she remotely liked other than Draco was Theodore. But as a respectable person, Ophelia tolerated them and acted appropriately. Smiling when she should, laughing at their insensitive jokes. To make matters worse, she and Draco were to go on a trip with them to France for the entire summer in a few months. She was jumping for joy.
Maybe she could convince Draco and his parents that he should attend Mahoutokoro? He was the only reason she didn't hate the idea of going to Hogwarts.
"Are you ready to go, Toshiko-chan?" Kohachi asked her, drawing her attention back to the present. Now she and Draco were the only ones seated, everyone else was out of their seats, getting ready to leave.
Ophelia grinned. "The reserve?"
He nodded and led Ophelia, Draco, and Cassius out of the room while Amara, Nicholas, and Annaisha withdrew to the kitchen. After a twenty-minute walk through the gardens, it opened into a clearing.
Unfamiliar to him, Draco gasped.
Ophelia glanced at Draco. She probably looked like he did when she saw the dragon reserve for the first time. "I know right?"
Draco quickly looked back and forth between the dragons they passed. "This is insane!"
Each dragon was protected in fenced-in areas with signs posted, indicating their name and dragon species: Antipodean Opaleye, Onny +3; Japanese Spiketail, Kiyoko +3; Russian Steeltusk, Nika +2.
She laughed. "Wait until you see the babies."
"Babies?" Draco choked out.
"You didn't wonder what the numbers on the signs mean?" Cassius laughed.
"I don't know! I'm kind of busy mentally preparing to see live dragons?" said Draco.
Ophelia smirked. "Did I not mention that this reserve is for dragon breeding? Most of the dragons in the eastern hemisphere come here. Ojiichan is considered to be one of the best dragonologists in the world. Ojiichan! Can we see Xinglong and her babies?" Ophelia asked.
"Why not? I've been meaning to check on the little ones anyway," said Kohachi. He stopped at a pair of gates, opened them, and walked into the fenced area labeled Chinese Fireball, Xinglong +2.
While she and Cassius followed him in, Draco stayed outside of the gates. Ophelia looked back at Draco. "Dra, you coming?"
His face paled when a red baby dragon began to waddle towards them.
"It's okay, Draco. They don't even breathe fire," Ophelia reassured him.
"I'm pretty sure dragons breathe fire!" Draco retorted. He began to close the gates, stopping the baby dragon from escaping.
"Oh, Dra. Do you trust me?" she asked.
He sighed. "Of course I do," Draco said begrudgingly, toeing the ground.
Ophelia raised her brows.
"Fine," he opened the gate and entered, closing the gates behind him.
The baby dragon approached Draco, stumbling onto its butt, and stared at him with wide eyes and a gummy smile.
"She likes you," said Kohachi, walking towards Draco and Ophelia with Xinglong in tow. A stunning twenty-five-foot-length dragon, no wings in sight and smooth, scarlet scales speckled with gold when the sun hit her scales in the right places. Beside Kohachi, Cassius was cradling another baby Chinese Fireball in his arms. "Feifei is really stubborn. I've never seen her like this with someone she just met," Kohachi continued.
Ophelia suppressed a smile. After taking care of dragons for almost 130 years, Kohachi's greatest judge of character is if a dragon has the capability to like you.
Draco looked at Kohachi with surprise. "Hatakeyama-san, is it okay if I-" Draco gestured to Feifei.
Kohachi nodded, amused that Draco would ask him for permission. "I have no control over them. Dragons are autonomous creatures," he said, absentmindedly caressing Xinglong's snout. "They choose whether to trust you or not."
Draco bent down to Feifei. The young dragon purred as Draco placed his hand on Feifei's head, she nuzzled into his touch. Draco chuckled. "So they don't breathe fire?"
Ophelia sat beside Feifei, who abandoned Draco to settle into Ophelia's lap. "Compared to contrary belief, East Asian dragons are quite peaceful actually. Here, dragons are revered creatures, so it's looked down upon if you poach them. Unfortunately, it still happens. That's what the dragon sanctuaries are for, to protect them," Feifei purred in content as Ophelia stroked her back. "Treat them with respect, and they will respect you back. That's why they don't breathe fire."
"They do look rather frightening though," Draco laughed. The dragon in Cassius' arms flew down to Draco, pushing his head at Draco's hand.
Ophelia broke into a smile. "Ojiichan, did I mention that Draco has been wanting a proper Japanese name while we're staying here?"
"Really?" Kohachi mused. "Well, I think his name is rather prophetic. Ryuji has a nice ring to it, doesn't it? And please, Kohachi-san is perfectly fine, Draco."
If it was possible, Ophelia's smile widened. "It's perfect."
21 November 1994
Over the next fortnight, Ophelia had to wrap her head around going on a date with Harry. It wasn't like she hadn't been romantically involved with another person before, but it was especially tumultuous and sinister that she was leading Harry on when she had feelings for Draco. To Draco's dismay, she was the one to secure a date to Hogsmeade first, so he was subject to a punishment of Ophelia's choosing.
On the other hand, the first task had almost arrived. Cassius, Draco, Ophelia, Graham, Adrian, and Miles spent countless hours in the library helping Cassius in anticipation of the task. After extensive research on previous tournaments, nearly seventy percent of the first tasks involved a creature. From there, they narrowed his focus to offensive and defensive spells that Cassius could use for combat based on what would be effective for a particular creature.
In the meantime, many students had an increased interest in Ophelia's personal life. Rita Skeeter had published her piece about the Triwizard Tournament, and it had turned out to be not so much a report on the tournament but a dramatized version of Cassius and Harry's life stories. Ophelia expected an off-handed comment due to being a champion's sister, yet there were multiple mentions of her in the article. A concerning amount.
Much of the front page had been given over to two pictures, individual photos of Cassius and Harry from their photoshoot; the article continuing on pages two and three had been all about Harry, while pages six and seven had been focused on Cassius. Fleur and Viktor's names were both misspelled and were featured in only the last paragraph of the article. Instead of more detail of their own personal life, Fleur and Viktor were reduced to just being associated with Cassius and Ophelia rather than as champions of their respective schools. There was an adjacent photo of Ophelia and Viktor from the Quidditch World Cup, and an acknowledgment of Fleur being best friends with Thalia.
The article had appeared ten days ago, and Ophelia still can feel the attention of her classmates around her. To say the least, Rita Skeeter took creative liberty reporting Ophelia's relations to Draco and Viktor.
Has modern nobility darling, Ophelia Warrington found love? Sister to Hogwarts champion Cassius Warrington, has possibly found a love interest (Refer to 1 January 1994 Issue for more detail on the Warrington Family, Ringing in the New Year: Warrington Gala Coverage by Rita Skeeter). Despite rumours of a kindling relationship to Draco Malfoy, sources report that she has caught the attention of Victor Crum, Bulgarian Seeker of this past summer's Quidditch World Cup. Crum and Miss Warrington have been spotted speaking and eating together during meals. What does this mean for the young Malfoy heir? (Continued on Page 8)
There was also a feature of her supposed love triangle in the last Witch Weekly edition. On the bright side, Harry got the worst of the media coverage out of all of them. Rita Skeeter had spun a story of Harry being a teary-eyed boy who missed his parents greatly, and implied that Harry was in a relationship with Hermione. The Slytherins had thoroughly enjoyed Harry's misery, making sneering comments since the article came out. Ophelia gladly appreciated since it simultaneously took some of the attention off of her and onto Harry. To Ophelia's dismay, she was certain that their date was going to draw attention to both of them. Her stupid competitive nature besting her once again.
Along with her date with Harry, Ophelia was also meeting with Kohachi afterward. A week ago she received an unexpected letter from him, saying that he's in the country and wanted to meet with her.
The clock in her dorm room went off, indicating it was now 11:30.
"Ready to go?" Daphne asked, waiting by the door.
Ophelia shrugged on her heavy caramel robes and inspected herself in the mirror. Opting for a smart casual look, she readjusted the waistband of her tan, flared wide-leg trousers, ensuring her cream turtleneck was properly tucked in. "This isn't too much, right?"
Daphne gave her a once over. "Not too formal, but enough to imply that you put in some effort."
"I'll take it," Ophelia sighed. She tucked her wand into the pocket of her robes, then slung a bag onto her shoulder.
Ophelia and Daphne left their dorm and began the ascent to the common room. Daphne grinned. "You know, you're really annoying."
"Um, rude?" said Ophelia.
"Well it's true, and you know it! You like Draco-"
Ophelia nudged her. "Sh!" she looked around, making sure nobody else was in the aquarium hallway.
Daphne pressed on, "And he likes you! Now here you are, going off on a date with someone else!"
Ophelia pressed her lips together. "He doesn't like me, Daph. Why else do you think I haven't told him?"
Daphne scoffed. "Ophelia, I love you, but you're lying to yourself and you know it. Repressing your feelings and feigning ignorance is going to bite you in the arse one day."
She stopped in the middle of the hallway. Should she tell him? It had only been since September, but the 'will they, won't they' game they were accidentally playing was extremely tiring. "I'll tell him after the date," she said quietly.
Daphne whipped around. "Are you serious?"
Ophelia fiddled with her robes sleeve. She didn't do feelings. What's better? Face her emotions or bottle them up until she explodes. The latter was very tempting, but Draco deserved more than that. She deserved more than that. So the truth it was. "Yep, I'll do it. I'll tell Dra that I like him after the date. What's the worst that can happen? He rejects me then we move on? We're fourteen, if anything when I'm fifty, all I'll remember from this time of my life would be that the Triwizard Tournament happened this year. Let alone that I had a measly crush on Draco fucking Malfoy," Ophelia rambled. Yet, she felt her heart constraint as she reduced her feelings for Draco to a minuscule crush in her youth.
Daphne paced to Ophelia and pulled her into a hug. "It's gonna be okay. And you know why? Because he does like you, Lia."
Ophelia laughed. "Thanks, Daph. . .and I love you too," she muttered quickly. It was funny. Seven years ago Ophelia wouldn't have even considered Daphne as a friend, and now she was practically the sister she never had. Not only that but she's grown to love the others as well. Including all of the imperfections, trauma, and issues they all had, herself included.
"Ophelia Warrington, confessing her feelings to me before Draco? The world must be ending," said Daphne.
"Ugh, shut up," Ophelia said, "Now if you don't mind, I have a date."
Which will probably be all over Witch Weekly next week. But that's a problem for another day.
Ophelia entered the Three Broomsticks, it was packed with Hogwarts students and various magical folk alike. With the first task approaching, it wasn't a surprise that Hogsmeade was bustling with business. As she weaved through the pub looking for Harry, she heard a variety of languages being spoken.
In the corner of her eye, she spotted Harry pop up out of his seat, beckoning her to come over. Ophelia laughed under her breath, this was going to be fun for her. Walking to Harry's table, she noted that Hermione, Weasley, and a few other Gryffindors were at a table nearby.
Gah, what was I thinking with this bet? Ha right, I wasn't thinking.
A few tables behind Harry, her friends were seated together. If they were doing what they usually do when they go to the Three Broomsticks, they were busy deciding what food to buy for lunch. Contrary to 'popular' belief, rich purebloods liked pub food just as much as the next Brit. Greg and Vince would usually order half the menu together. Millie was a sucker for a meat pie, while Tracy and Pansy halved a roast dinner, regardless if it was technically lunch. Theo loved his fish and chips even though Blaise always made fun of his child-like palate. Yet Blaise was hypocritical since he ordered Shepherd's Pie every time, despite it being available for dinner at Hogwarts every night. 'It's better here!' he would say. Ophelia and Daphne would usually split an order of Yorkshire pudding, but ordered their own respective entree. Since it was cold outside, Daphne would probably get a soup.
Ophelia's eyes fell on a particular blond who had been fixated on her since they met in the Slytherin common room twenty minutes ago.
She smirked. Breaking almost all of her rules lately, she entered Draco's mind with ease. "Down, Dra. Potter's not going to kidnap me or something."
He cocked a brow. "If anything, you would be the one to do the kidnapping. Speaking of nefarious actions, what happened to not using Legilimency without permission?"
Ophelia felt her cheeks warm. "You looked rather pathetic, so I wanted to see if you were okay." It was a terrible excuse to use her Legilimency ability this way, but why not use her talents if she had them? "Hey, let's meet up later after I meet with Ojiichan. I wanna talk to you about something."
"Ooo, cryptic. Common room tonight, 7?"
She nodded, then turned her attention to Harry in front of her. "Hi, Harry," said Ophelia.
"Um, hi," he stammered.
She laughed. "No need to be nervous. Think of this as one of our library talks," Ophelia said as she took off her robes and draped them over the empty seat.
"Hard to think of it like that with all of these people around," said Harry. He made a move to pull out Ophelia's chair for her and waited for her to take a seat, then pushed in her chair and settled on his own once again.
"You didn't have to do that, but thank you," said Ophelia. Although he was clumsy, Ophelia found Harry's attempt to be gentlemanly, endearing.
He blushed. "Well, this is somewhat of a date as you said so-"
"Hi dears, would you like anything to drink?" said Madam Rosmerta, stopping at their table.
"I'll have a butterbeer please," Ophelia replied.
"Er, yes. Me too," Harry said.
Madam Rosmerta hustled away, collecting empty glasses from tables around them on the way back to the bar.
Unfortunately, an awkward silence fell over them. Ophelia's eyes wandered to the right of Harry, finding that she had a perfect view of Draco over Harry's shoulder. Just like he was always able to notice her attention on him, Draco's locked with hers, and her heart skipped a beat.
She should be on a date with Draco right now, not Harry.
Maybe that's what I'll make him do as a punishment for the bet. Her lips turned up into a smile at the thought of her and Draco talking over butterbeer and walking around Hogsmeade in the snow. She simultaneously hated and loved this newfound mushy side to herself.
Draco furrowed his brows to her sudden smile but grinned back at her with as much fervor.
"Ophelia? Do you know what you want to eat?" Harry asked.
Madam Rosmerta was back with their drinks and was standing at their table, quill and parchment in hand.
Ophelia broke out of her reverie. The way she was acting was unfair to Harry, and it was painfully obvious that he liked her. She committed to this date and he should have her undivided attention. "Sorry about that, Madam Rosmerta! I'll have butternut squash soup and a side of Yorkshire pudding, please."
"What's got you all smiley?" Harry asked when Madam Rosmerta left them.
"Yorkshire pudding," she lied with ease. It was partially true, she did love Yorkshire pudding.
Harry laughed. "I didn't think you were the type to like stereotypical British food."
She rolled her eyes. "Well, I didn't think you were the type to perpetuate stereotypes. We are here in Britain, and I am British."
He reddened, realizing his insinuation. "I'm sorry! It's just you know. . ."
"Purebloods aren't unicorns Harry," she laughed. "It's funny, I never really had any opinions about blood purity until we moved to England."
"Wait, really? I thought, well," he paused, struggling to find his words.
Even after ten years of living in the UK, Ophelia had many gripes about the way Wizarding Britain functioned, but every country had its own problems. "Okay, Harry. I don't know what information you've been fed the last three years, but you know what I'm gonna do?" she interlaced her fingers, then rested her chin atop them. "I'm going to give you an objective and unbiased account of everything that you think you know about wizards and everything magical."
Harry tilted his head to the side. "You're really not what I thought you would be."
"We've spoken less than ten times in three years, what do you expect?" said Ophelia. Harry smiled. She was glad he was starting to shed some of the nerves he had when they first started talking. "So, what do you want to know?"
It was nearly forty minutes when Ophelia had last looked at him, making Draco agitated. Was this what jealousy felt like? He recalled when Ophelia dated that one Ravenclaw last year and he didn't remotely feel the same way as compared to now. What was his name? Larry. . .Cary?
"Draco, you look pretty creepy right now," said Blaise.
"More like in love," Pansy muttered.
He scoffed. "I heard that Pans."
Daphne snickered. "But you're not denying it-"
"So it must be true," Theo finished for her.
"Who was that Ravenclaw that Lia dated last year, Barry?" Draco asked, ignoring his childhood friends.
"Draco, you're shitting us, right?" said Tracey.
He shrugged, tongue in cheek. "I remember last names, not first names."
"Then what's his last name?" asked Daphne.
"Boot," Draco said matter-of-factly. Because how can you forget someone named after a type of shoe?
Jerry Boot? No. What is it?
"She was with Terry Boot for nearly four months, mate," Blaise chuckled.
"And Lia would always talk about him," Pansy added.
"It's Terry? Huh, doesn't look like a Terry, to be honest," said Draco, a mental image of Ophelia's ex-boyfriend materializing in his mind.
While the others laughed at his statement, Draco's eyes fell onto Ophelia once again. Looking at her being so animated and cheerful with Potter, Draco was torn with feeling lovestruck by her, and envious of Potter for bringing about her joy. He laughed under his breath. He felt the same way whenever he saw Ophelia with Gary, but Draco was too oblivious to realize it. Cassius would be proud of him for being aware of his own feelings, a far cry from Draco's adolescence. It wasn't until he was nine did he realize that the world didn't revolve around purebloods. Is jealousy something to be proud of?
But then Draco recognized a telltale sign that he's seen a few times before, especially with Cassius. A lean over the table, a slight relaxation at the shoulders, the crane of Potter's neck.
He couldn't be there, not anymore. Draco pushed out of his seat, grabbing his robes and bolting towards the door, only one of his arms through the sleeves. Behind him, he heard his name called multiple times, but he easily ignored them.
Pushing open the Three Broomsticks heavy door, Draco was met with an air-biting cold, a harsh contrast to the warm pub he was just in. He began the climb back to the castle, his mind reeling from what he witnessed. Almost witnessed.
He sighed. This had to be why she wanted to meet with him later. Ophelia actually liked Harry bloody Potter, and she was worried about how Draco was going to take it. What if the whole bet was an elaborate ruse, to ease him into the idea of her and Potter, together? It seemed like a very Ophelia-esque way to do it. He couldn't even be mad at her, he had no right to be mad. He just thought that with the way she reacted around him lately, that maybe she liked him back. But who was he fooling? Draco stopped in his tracks, a butterbeer or something stronger sounded really good and there was another bar in Hogsmeade he could go to.
Fuck it.
Her eyes widened as she watched Harry lean across the table towards her, eyes lidded.
What. The. Fuck.
Ophelia turned her head to the side, his lips brushing her cheek. She waited until Harry sat back down to look at him once again, his face a concerning shade of red. "Um, Harry?"
Harry awkwardly met her eyes, embarrassment flowing out of him. "Yeah?"
Ophelia frowned, she had to tell him the truth before he thought something more would flourish from this date. She was a little late with it, but best to be honest.
She opened her mouth to speak, but she saw something fly in the corner of her eye. A beetle precariously landed on the corner of their table. Ophelia cocked her head to the side, carefully looking at the insect in front of her. It couldn't be? She, Draco, and Cassius joked about how they thought Rita Skeeter came up with ideas for her articles and one of their theories was that Rita was an unregistered animagus.
There was only one way to test their theory. "Well, I forgot to ask you about that Rita Skeeter article. But I just wanted to say, don't worry about it. Wizards love any type of drama, and what's better than sensationalism? My family has worked with her for years now, and I hope we can continue to trust her in the future. Especially if I ever found out if she harbored a secret that she wouldn't want to fly around," said Ophelia, eyeing the beetle as she finished her sentence. The beetle took off, flying towards the bathroom.
Ophelia smirked, then took out her wand from her overcoat pocket. "Muffliato," she whispered, then returned her wand back to her pocket. "Sorry about that. Don't want unwanted people hearing this conversation," Ophelia eyed the bathroom again to find Rita Skeeter leaving and fiddling with her bag, ignoring Ophelia. "I should've used it earlier, but I was distracted."
By Draco bloody highlighter Malfoy. Shit, Dra.
She looked past Harry to find that Draco, Blaise, and Theo were gone. There was no doubt in her mind that Draco saw Harry try to kiss her. Yet maybe it was a good thing, a sign that he was jealous, that he did like her.
It'll be fine.
"What was that spell? I've never heard of it before," Harry asked.
"A charm that can conceal sound, useful little thing. Learned it from Snape a year or two ago. It was on the Hogwarts Charms curriculum at one point, not sure if it still is though," said Ophelia.
Harry's eyebrows furrowed, Ophelia could tell that he was still perplexed at the idea of Severus being a tolerable person. She slightly shook her head. There were more important things to address. "Harry, do you trust me?" Ophelia asked.
"I thought we'd already gone over this whole trust thing two years ago," Harry laughed, but he stopped when he realized Ophelia's seriousness.
"I'd just like to preface that I'm sorry. For misleading you on this date, and for everything really. I don't expect you to accept this apology after I explain what's going on," she said earnestly.
Harry bowed his head, encouraging her to continue.
"Well, do remember when I worked with you, Hermione, and Weasel- sorry, Weasley the first time in Magical Creatures a few weeks ago?"
He looked off to the side, recalling that day. "That was the first day of classes after I became a champion," said Harry.
She nodded. "I don't know if you noticed that Draco and I were acting a bit odd. . .and you see, we were talking about you. To an extent," Ophelia continued. She internally cringed as she spoke, how do you carefully break the news to a person that they were a bet?
"Yeah, I remember?"
"So when we got to class, he and I made a bet for a few Galleons. He didn't think that I would be able to convince you and your friends to let me hang out with you for the day. Obviously, I did since I've spoken with all of you before and you didn't want to curse me, so it was an easy win for me, too easy. I don't know what came over me, but then I proposed that I can get anyone to take me on a date to Hogsmeade, and to make it fair, he would need to find one before I could," said Ophelia.
Harry stared down his empty butterbeer glass. The longer he sat silently, the more worried she became.
Merlin, I'm a terrible person.
"Why? No, why me?" said Harry, still averting her gaze.
"Because I knew you would do it," Ophelia stated bluntly.
Harry looked at her. A pit formed in her stomach at the sight of Harry's broken expression. "But you could've chosen anyone."
Why did she choose Harry? She shook her head, it was obvious, wasn't it? "Because you're the only one that could make Draco jealous."
"You like him?" Harry asked.
She shrugged helplessly. "Yeah. And before you ask, I don't know why I do either. But I do and it's unfortunately not going away anytime soon. You can't help who you fall for, you know?"
Harry chuckled. "I know."
At least Harry wasn't totally upset by her actions, he was laughing at her jokes. "So, that's everything, the whole story. The end all be all is that I'm an idiot that used you because I like Draco Malfoy," Ophelia said, a frown pulling at her lips.
"You know, I think you should lay off the betting for a while. It seems like it's only made life harder for you," Harry said.
"I don't know about you, but bankrupting the Malfoy's is a noble task my brother and I have taken all by ourselves. And we're succeeding," Ophelia grinned.
"Nevermind, the bets can continue," Harry joked.
They both laughed and an easy atmosphere settled over them. "I forgive you," Harry said at last.
"You don't have to," said Ophelia. Although she prides herself on her persuasion skills, sometimes she felt disingenuine when it came to moments of emotional distress. To her, the way she was able to carry the conversation in her favor seemed a bit like manipulation, even though she told Harry the truth.
"I want to. On the bright side, I'm glad that I got to know you better," said Harry, a broad smile on his face.
"Friends?" Ophelia asked.
He nodded. "Friends. If you ever need anything-"
"I'll be sure to ask," Ophelia continued. "I will say, Potter, I'm quite surprised you made the first move."
Harry groaned. "I was hoping you would've forgotten about that by now."
She cocked an eyebrow. How could she ever forget something like that?
"What can I say, you give people the courage they didn't think they had," Harry said.
Ophelia laughed. "Hm, I'll keep that in mind."
They were talking for so long, Ophelia forgot that she had to meet with her grandfather. She pulled out her pocket watch, 2:30.
Thank goodness, it's still early.
"Got somewhere else to be?" Harry asked.
"My grandfather. He's visiting this week," Ophelia said.
"And I would hope one of my favorite grandchildren would be more excited to meet with me."
Approaching their table was Kohachi and Hagrid closely behind.
She rose from the table, giving her grandfather a quick bow before offering her seat to him. "Ojiichan, you're here early! I thought we were meeting at 3?"
"No, that's fine Toshiko-chan," denying her offer. "You're right, but Hagrid here wanted a word with Mr. Potter," gesturing behind him.
"All right, Ophelia, Harry?" said Hagrid loudly, beaming down at them.
"Just fine, Hagrid," said Ophelia, smiling back.
Hagrid bent down to whisper so that only Harry could hear it. "It was nice to see you two!" Then he left the Three Broomsticks.
Harry was rather bewildered by the entire interaction, so Ophelia took the lead for him. "Ojiichan, as you know, this is Harry Potter. Harry, this is my great-great-grandfather, Kohachi Hatakeyama. He's the dragonologist," Ophelia explained.
Harry's face registered her acknowledgment, remembering their conversation in the Owlery a few weeks ago. "Oh! It's a pleasure to meet you, sir. Ophelia has talked a lot about you."
Kohachi smiled. "Good things, I hope. Now I hope you don't mind, but Toshiko and I have somewhere to be. I'll be waiting outside for you."
She gave her grandfather a perplexed look but decided against questioning his statement. Ophelia took a few Galleons out of her bag and placed them on the table, then buttoned on her robes. "I'm sorry for cutting this short, Harry."
He shook his head frantically. "Of course not! You haven't seen him for a while, you should spend time with him."
"Thank you for understanding. See you around, Harry! And if I'm not able to talk to you before the task, good luck on Tuesday," Ophelia said.
He smiled. "Thanks."
Leaving the Three Broomsticks, she was surprised to find both Kohachi and Hagrid waiting for her. "Hagrid? What are you still doing here?"
"Hagrid and I were having an enlightening conversation about dragons," Kohachi explained.
Why would they be having a conversation about dragons? The reason for her grandfather's presence in the UK now clicking into place.
Kohachi raised an eyebrow. "Would you like to visit Feifei?"
Ophelia grinned. "Of course."
Ophelia reached the castle just a few minutes before 7. For the past four hours, Ophelia, Kohachi, and Hagrid were in the Forbidden Forest overseeing the four dragons that would be used for the first task. Ophelia also met Charlie Weasley, her now favorite Weasley of the ones that she has crossed paths with. He and the other dragon keepers were impressed at Ophelia's aptitude towards dragons. Due to Ophelia and mostly Kohachi's presence - even the most unruly of the four, the Hungarian Horntail - the dragons were able to peacefully settle in their pens for the night.
Dragons. She shook her head in disbelief. The first task was dragons and it was almost certain that Cassius would pass with flying colors. As she rushed down the halls towards the dungeons, her heart beat faster with every step she took. But first, telling Draco she liked him.
"In vino veritas," Ophelia said. The stone wall pulled away and she was surprised to be met with Daphne and Theo at the entrance. "Um, hi guys? I'm kinda meeting Dra right now."
"Yeah! Um, he wanted us to go get some food from the kitchens when you get here," Daphne prattled.
"And now you're here! So let's go," Theo added.
"Uh, sure? Let me drop off my things in our room then we can go," said Ophelia.
She tried to push past them, but they held her back. "Here! I can do it for you, Lia, you're probably tired from being out all day," Daphne said, holding out her hand.
Ophelia stared at Daphne's hand, then panned back to her best friend's face. Daphne's hand was slightly trembling and Theo couldn't look Ophelia in the eye. Something was wrong. "Okay, I don't know what the two of you are hiding, but you know I can handle anything."
Daphne and Theo shared a glance. "I-" Daphne pressed her lips together.
Ophelia pushed past them and entered the common room. All she saw was a typical Saturday night in the common room, a few upper years gathered around the fire, passing around a bottle of firewhisky and idly chatting. While some other students were sitting at tables on the other side of the room, playing Gobstones or Wizard's Chess.
Nothing out of the ordinary in particular. She walked across the common room and descended down the stairs towards the dorms. Theo and Daphne ran after her. "Lia, wait!"
Suddenly, Blaise ran up the stairs, stopping her from going any further. "Hey! How was the meeting with your grandfather?" said Blaise with his broad smile reserved only for pleasantries.
"No. Stop whatever this is," Ophelia said, gesturing between her three friends.
Blaise's smile dropped, a serious face replacing his previous faux happy one.
"We tried to stop him, Lia," said Daphne.
She turned around to look at Daphne, a solemn look on her face. There was only one other person other than her brother that Ophelia would be this concerned about. "What did Draco do?"
Then she heard it. It was barely audible from the stairwell, but it was the softest sigh and it vaguely sounded like her name.
Her heart dropped. Jumping straight to a conclusion she didn't want to believe. "Who is he with?" Ophelia rasped.
"Natalia Anderson," Daphne muttered.
"Draco saw Potter try to kiss you, then he ran and we couldn't find him. Blaise and I looked for hours, then we found him drunk on the couch, flirting with Natalia," said Theo.
"He doesn't even like her, Lia. He's liked you since last year!" Blaise said.
Ophelia scoffed. "He has a shit way of showing it," she walked down the last few steps, ignoring Blaise, Daphne, and Theo's protests. She looked up and down the hall until she saw them. Pushed against the aquarium wall, Natalia's hands ran through Draco's hair as they kissed.
A foreign feeling coursed through her body. What was it? A mixture of jealousy, betrayal, and heartbreak? She felt ill. This was her hallway. Their hallway. Her mind ran over multiple memories of late nights of her and Draco talking or just being here together. And now she could never unsee the sight before her. "Dra?"
He pulled away from Natalia and turned to snap at whoever else was trying to bother him. "How many times do I have to tell you, Blaise, go aw-" Draco stopped when he realized it was Ophelia. He withdrew from Natalia completely then tried to tame his wild hair. "Lia, it's not-" But something about her must have stopped him from continuing his sentence.
She raised a hand to her face, finding that tears were falling at a rapid pace. She wanted to laugh, she never expected to be the type to cry over a boy. She didn't even cry when she and Terry broke up. Or when her family spent an entire summer in Japan and she had to end her summer fling with Kei, an old childhood friend. But Draco wasn't just any boy.
Ophelia dragged the back of her hand under both of her eyes, brushing some of the tears away. "I, um-" she sniffled, unsure what to say. Ophelia felt a hand on her shoulder. She glanced to the side to find Daphne beside her, giving her a reassuring nod. "I wanted to tell you something, but you're um, occupied. So I won't hold you up. We can talk in the morning," said Ophelia. She and Daphne began to walk away from them, heading towards their room.
Draco took a step towards her, Natalia was long forgotten. "Lia, wait."
She looked back at him, a torn expression on his face. Even though they were nearly ten feet apart, she could've sworn that he had tears in his eyes. Unlike her gentleness earlier at the Three Broomsticks, she drove through his mind looking for Merlin knows what. She saw a hazy version of Harry trying to kiss her from Draco's perspective. Him sitting alone at a bar she didn't recognize, empty glasses surrounding him. Then she saw herself, so many times. Her laughing or smiling. His mind was too messy, his inebriated brain was difficult to sift through. Then she finally settled on one memory, it was from the first day back at Hogwarts after Cassius sent them off to bed. They were in the hallway, similar to how they were at that very moment in the present.
She was looking down at herself, she had a small furrow on her brows and a light pink blush on her cheeks. She smiled. "Good night, Draco. See you in the morning."
"Good night, Ophelia," he said. She watched herself walk away. When she was out of earshot, Draco whispered "I like you." She felt how genuine he was when he said it, a warm fuzzy feeling as she watched her past self walk away. He waited until she opened the door to her dorm to finally turn to walk towards his own.
Ophelia pulled out of his mind, a furious look on his face, and a confused face graced her own. "You have a fucking shit way of showing it Draco," echoing her words from a few minutes ago. "Night." She left him as she did in his memory, but now there was an uncertainty of how they would meet in the morning.
- Akita Prefecture: a mountainous prefecture located in Northern Japan
- Yukata: traditional Japanese garment, usually used in more casual settings
- Obi: a belt worn with traditional Japanese clothing
- In vino veritas: literal translation, in wine, there is truth
A/N: Hello again! Sorry for the late update (again) but I hoped you enjoyed this long chapter. I'm terribly sorry to leave you on this cliffhanger, but it's finals week and your girl has to study!
Also, you might have noticed, but I've changed some things about dragons. There are major differences in how dragons are interpreted in eastern versus western cultures and I wanted to incorporate that. I definitely recommend reading about that! It's pretty cool.
Next chapter: The first task! And what was Draco thinking?
I love and appreciate all reviews! Thank you to those that have :)
Contains content from Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.
Chapter 19: The Hungarian Horntail