OPHELIA STOOD STILL, COMPLETELY AWESTRUCK. Then, as the seconds ticked by, she slowly came to her senses, ignoring the red hot feeling of being caught guilty, her heartbeat increasing to a pace that rivaled that of a mouse.

"Zabini," Colin cleared his throat, greeting Blaise, taking yet another step away from Ophelia.

Blaise's eyes were narrowed at Colin, jaw clenched, breathing heavily.

Ophelia had never seen him this mad before.

He was always the cool one, the chill one.

"Col, why don't you leave? I'll catch up with you later," Ophelia whispered, before turning back to Blaise.

It was only when the door was safely shut behind them that Ophelia began to speak.

"What you saw, it— It wasn't what it looked like—"

"Cut the crap, Malfoy," Blaise interrupted her. His words were a sharp sword compared to his normal cheerful tone. 

He had always been there for her, Blaise. He wasn't her best friend, but Ophelia respected him, and she considered him to be one of her best friends. When he called her Malfoy, it hurt more than she expected.

"You're cheating on Theo."

He said it so blatantly, so bluntly, so easily that Ophelia felt a huge wave of guilt crash into her. It was the first time her infidelity had been acknowledged out loud, and it did not sound good.

"I'm— I'm not—"

Blaise slammed his hand harshly down on the table, and Ophelia recalled that the last time she'd seen him this angry was when he was yelling at Ginny, defending her during Slughorn's party.

"Don't give me bull! I know what I saw! You and Creevey—"

"We didn't kiss! We were just holding hands!" Ophelia defended. The righteous side of her brain was jailed by the devil in her that had taken over. She did not know what possessed her to behave so out of character.

"You were about to kiss—" Blaise accused her. "If I hadn't walked in—" He was breathing so heavily, pointing his shaking finger at her, trembling with anger, disbelief and disgust. "Don't. Lie," He growled. "You would have kissed him if I hadn't walked in, am I right?"

Ophelia's eyes began to water, the imaginary thought of Theo finding out that she'd been cheating on him, hurting her. She could imagine his heartbroken expression, she could imagine the pain in his eyes. 

It would break him. 

She didn't have to say anything, be it even to protest. She knew it, and Blaise knew it. If he hadn't walked in, she would have kissed Colin.

"Don't tell Theo—" the blonde whispered. "Please, it's—"

"He's gonna lose his fucking mind," Blaise hissed, groaning, punching one of the tables. "He's gonna be heartbroken—"

"Blaise, please," Ophelia whispered, trying to calm him down, her fingers brushing against his arm, "please don't tell him..."

"What the heck is wrong with you? Theo—" Blaise paused, taking a deep breath, trying to get some oxygen into his system. "He's fucking in love with you, isn't that enough?"

"It is," Ophelia blubbered, "it is, but—"

"Save your excuses. I can't watch you break his heart, I'm telling him." 

The Slytherin was making determined strides to the door, his hand on the door handle, about to unleash some very heartbreaking information for Theo.

"No!" she cried, a pearly tear spilling down her cheek. "You can't do that, it'll break him, don't tell him..."

"I—" Blaise was livid, fuming as he turned to face Ophelia, hand pausing above the door handle. He narrowed his eyes, glaring at her. "How long?" he asked.

"What?"

"How long has this been going on?"

"About a month and a half..." Ophelia recalled the day Theo told her he loved her, and she left him, running straight to Colin and confessing her feelings.

"You're playing a dangerous game here," he warned. And you better sort out your shit," he spat, pointing his finger right between her eyes. "Or I'm telling him."

"Blaise, don't do this," the Malfoy heiress's voice was soft, pleading, begging. "I'm... I love Colin—"

"Then stop messing around with Theo!" Blaise roared. "He doesn't deserve this! Break it off with him then! Before it's too late!"

"I can't do that!" Ophelia exclaimed, a sob leaving her. "It's not that simple! I— I care about Theo very, very much, I—"

"You're one selfish girl, Ophelia Malfoy, and I cannot, will not allow you to break Theo's heart, I refuse to watch you break his heart!" Blaise growled.

Blaise's words were the bitter truth that he served her on a silver platter, and never had any words tasted worse than this.

"I just need time to figure things out," Ophelia said, in a small voice. "Please, don't tell Theo. I'm— I'm your friend too—"

"You lost that title when you decided to fucking cheat on my best friend," Blaise said coldly. "I will not be a part of this. Until you sort out your shitshow here, we are not friends. And you better clean up your mess fast, before Theo finds out."

Those were the last words Blaise spoke to Ophelia before leaving, after casting a dirty glare in her direction.

Ophelia blinked at the closed door in front of her and fell to the floor, her back sliding against the stone wall, silent tears spilling down her cheeks as her head lolled back limply, hating herself for the stupid decisions she had made.

But humans do stupid things sometimes, and they continue to do stupid things despite knowing the consequences, despite knowing the outcome.

Like Ophelia. She knew what the right thing to do was, but she couldn't bring herself to do it, for reasons unknown to her at the time.

Lost in her thoughts for a few minutes, she stood up, wiped her eyes and headed to the girls' bathroom, fixing her appearance and emerging back with an emotionless expression, not letting her face betray the emotional turmoil within.

Then, she went to the library.

As she always did.

The blonde had originally planned to stay at Hogwarts for the Easter break, as Malfoy Manor was currently occupied by Aunt Bella, whose singular presence was more than enough to fill the hundred bedrooms.

But, she now had a change of plans.

Like she had told Blaise she needed some time to figure things out, she needed to be alone.

Alone from Theo, and alone from Colin.

Which was why, when Astoria pleaded Ophelia to accompany her and Daphne Greengrass to the Greengrass Château, the Gryffindor finally agreed.

She left Hogwarts the very next morning.

She didn't even say goodbye.

{ first off, apologies for the short chapter... but the next chapter has drama. i have been waiting to reach this point in the story forever, and i can't believe it's finally here. i've been dreaming about the next chapter from the moment i started writing, and now that it's here, i have no words to write exactly what i envisioned. nonetheless, i will do my best.
please comment, vote, follow and share, follow me on discord and spotify.
spam me with comments, i love, love reading them. 
lots of love, jasmine.
xoxo }

{ SEP 03. 2024 }