NOW THAT SHE HAD LESS to worry about, Ophelia should have stopped drinking, but the truth was, she loved the taste of firewhiskey too much to stop.

Her intake wasn't exactly as much as it was during her OWLs, but it was enough for her to maintain a constant, slightly inebriated state. 

As a result, she was always cheerful, carefree and completely devoid of stress, especially without the nagging anxiety of the OWL exams at the back of her mind had dissipated into thin air as soon as she sat her last exam, and now, finally, she felt free.

The first thing Ophelia did after she had spoken to Luna was hunt down Draco to apologize and attempt to patch things up with him, as she felt this to be her biggest priority at the moment. With the end of the school year approaching closer and closer, so did the deadline to Draco's task.

Salazar knew he needed all the help he could possibly have. 

When Ophelia finally found Draco in the Room of Requirement, she knew that everything would change within the span of less than a week.

The moment she set foot in the room, she could sense the air around her had shifted, and instead of the room being full of stagnancy and constancy, it now contained a sense of forbearing darkness and impending doom.

Draco's face said it all. Ophelia found him staring blankly at the Vanishing cabinet, a look of disbelief etched all over his features, and when he looked up and saw Ophelia, he breathed a happy sigh of relief and hugged her, like she was his everything. 

Absolutely stunned, the blonde's arms slowly wrapped themselves around her older brother, tip-toeing slightly to somewhat reach his height.

When Draco's nose pressed into her neck, Ophelia felt something warm and wet cling to her skin, and when she stepped back to look at Draco's face, she could see the clear signs of his tears.

She knew these were not tears of joy, or tears of sorrow. It was a bittersweet moment, a time where fear and relief had brought a child forth into the earth and named it poignancy.

Because there was no other word for it. Draco had fixed the cabinet, but the only good thing that would come out of that was a ninety percent guarantee that Voldemort wouldn't kill or punish Draco. The downsides to fixing the cabinet, however... Those could not be counted.

"I fucking fixed it.." Draco choked. "And I couldn't have done it without your help... So thanks, I guess."

After they had broken apart from their hug, things were rather tense between them. The air was thick with unspoken apologies, laced with regret and sorrow. The longer the silence stretched out, the more tense the environment became.

Until—

"I'm sorry," they both said at the same time, both of their eyes meeting after they had both been staring at the floor for a good two minutes.

Between them, there still remained a few unspoken conversations, but somehow, just with both of them apologizing to each other, everything else they longed to say ceased to exist as the words on the tips of their tongues dissipated.

Draco's shoulders slumped slightly and he was the first to break the rigid silence that had stretched out between them.

"I'm so sorry for everything," he murmured, his voice laden with guilt and regret. "I don't know why I did what I did... I suppose I was just jealous of how Father gave you so much of his attention— I fucked up, Ophelia. Big time... I'm sorry for being an asshole when we were growing up.. I haven't been the best brother, but—"

Ophelia interrupted him with a guilty sob, followed by a confession of her own. "N-no, Draco... I messed up too.. I'm so sorry, I made a mistake when I told Potter—"

Draco's wand had clattered to the floor when his grip had loosened around the smooth wood as he stared at Ophelia in disbelief, like he couldn't believe the atrocities that were coming out from her mouth.

"Y-you told Potter..? You're the reason why he attacked me!" Draco accused, his eyes full of betrayal and pain at the thought of his sister doing this to him, of all people.

"I know, and I'm so sorry, I was mad at you for—"

For once, Draco sensed that another argument would break out between them, and scar them both, permanently ruining their relationship, especially at such a critical time when they both needed each other so much.

"It's okay," Draco finally breathed, a hint of his mother's gentle understanding breaking through his tough exterior. 

Because the past was in the past. They had both been shitty siblings to each other at some point in life, but if they would let that get in between them due to protecting their own egos, then they would be the ones missing out when they would need each other most.

"Call it even?" Draco asked, offering his little sister his hand for her to shake.

"Even," Ophelia replied, hugging him instead.

Draco's arms felt much warmer now that there were no more secrets held between them anymore, and for a second, just for a second, Ophelia was having the sudden déjá vu of being in Lucius' arms once more, which only resulted in her arms tightening around her brother.

"You smell like Nott," Draco commented, lightly shoving her away from him and grimacing, distaste pasted all over his features. 

"I spent the morning with him," Ophelia explained, clearing her throat awkwardly, her eyes traveling to the floor, a light pink blush splashed across her cheeks.

"Be careful around him," Draco advised. "He's known as the heartbreaker amongst us."

"He loves me," Ophelia remarked matter-of-factly, though her voice was laced with confidence. "I know it."

"How sure are you? He's told a lot of girls the same thing—" Draco had launched into a full explanation of why he thought Theo would hurt his little sister, but Ophelia interrupted him.

"He's been in love with me forever," Ophelia murmured softly. "Now please, trust me and talk to him."

Draco shrugged, a sour expression still etched on his lips. "He doesn't have the right to go behind my fucking back..."

"I love him," Ophelia interrupted, as if those three words would be enough to get Draco to talk to his best friend. "He's my boyfriend. And if you love me, you'd make up, because I hate being the cause of your broken friendship.."

Draco merely sighed wistfully.

Two days later, Ophelia was sitting next to Theo by the Black Lake, and the pair were holding hands and talking about their favorite places to visit, when Ophelia suddenly asked Theo if Draco had spoken to him.

"He's still hasn't spoken to you?" Ophelia echoed Theo's words that he had spoken just moments ago, her jaw dropping in disbelief. She stood up, fully prepared to go and yell at her brother when Theo grabbed her wrist and pulled her back down, causing her to topple into his lap with a squeal. 

All at once, she was breathless, and Theo's arms were wound tightly around her, both around her waist, preventing her from going anywhere.

Her stormy gray eyes were staring at his face, at his perfect cheekbones, and his devilish smirk, before they moved up to his eyes, only to find out that his eyes were already gazing intently at her face, full of admiration.

Within seconds, he had flipped them over, and he was suddenly hovering above her, caging her right there with his arms and legs. She was lying down in the grass, her blonde curls mingling with the grass and flowers, trapping her between both his legs, his knees digging into the ground. His hands were everywhere; one caressing her face, the other holding her hands so she couldn't get away.

"You're even prettier when you're under me," he murmured softly, reaching down to gently nip at her bottom lip with his teeth.

Ophelia could only blatantly stare. She had no words, nothing to say. Before she could wriggle her arms away from Theo's grasp so she could kiss him properly, Theo had already let go of her arms, eyebrows furrowed in complete confusion.

It had changed so suddenly that Ophelia couldn't even wrap her head around what could have caused the unexpected change in his demeanor.

One moment, he had been holding her, the next, his grip had loosened around her and he was looking at her with utter uncertainty. 

"Are you drunk, Principessa?" he murmured, shifting into a seated position. When he had been that close to her lips, he had smelt the alcohol on her breath, and it had taken him by surprise, because he had known Ophelia for so long, and he was sure that she wasn't the type to drink at random.

She shook her head, before shrugging. "A little," she commented with a small giggle, sitting up and brushing away the small pieces of grass that had clung to her hair. 

"Shit," Theo had muttered, mainly to himself, and he had quickly stood up, leaving Ophelia seated on the grass as she wondered what the hell was wrong with Theo. "Shit.."

"Theo!" Ophelia called after him, watching his retreating figure, still completely perplexed. "Where are you going?"

Theo didn't answer her, he just quickened his footsteps as he entered the castle, inwardly fuming, as a thousand thoughts raced through his mind, blood pounding in his ears as it was pumped through every artery, every vein, laced with anger and guilt.

What the hell had he done? This was all his fault— he was the one who first made her try Firewhiskey during Slughorn's party, and now... She was addicted to it, just like he was. He had fucking ruined her, he had corrupted his princess.

He needed to distance himself before he influenced her negatively anymore, but there was one huge, fucking problem.

He couldn't bring himself to stay away from her. 

With the way Theo had suddenly left her, Ophelia couldn't help but wonder what it is she had done that had caused him to leave, and without second thought, she found herself pulling out the flask from her pocket and taking small sips from it.

It only took a few more sips for her to get intoxicated enough to walk to Colin's dormitory, and she knocked on his door a few times until he opened it.

"Can we talk?" she asked tenderly, drunk enough to speak her mind, but sober enough for her to still maintain control of what she was doing and saying.

"Sure," Colin replied, following her down to the common room, where they both sat in their usual spot.

She got straight to the point, delivering nothing but the unfiltered truth to him. "I'm sorry for... messing around with both of you guys for weeks... I was just... confused.."

"I know," Colin commented softly. "And I want to apologize for giving you... mixed signals, I think, at one point... I was confused as well..."

"You're my best friend," Ophelia told Colin, her eyes full of sincerity, and she reached forward to hold his hand, only to realize that it no longer gave her the same excitement as it once did. "And I love you so, so much... But just as a friend...  And I'm really sorry, because you're a great guy, and the nicest person in the entire Gryffindor House."

Colin smiled, giving Ophelia's fingers a reassuring squeeze. "We were pretty great at being friends, weren't we?" he remarked softly. "To be honest, ever since the Quidditch match, I've known you don't have feelings for me anymore.. I've just been clinging on to... what could have been.."

"I know," Ophelia breathed. "Me too... The idea of you, of being with... a muggleborn... It was so exciting to me. I'm sorry for everything, and I hope we could still be friends.."

It was at this point that things between them had become so complicated, so messed up, but it somehow managed to all work out fine.

"Can we just forget everything between us and just go back to third year?" Colin suggested, sighing deeply, rubbing his temples between his hands.

"Yeah," the blonde replied with a small smile, giving Colin a tight hug that lasted for more that twenty seconds.

And that was when Ophelia realized that the tiny budding flowers in her heart symbolized the growth of a newer, stronger friendship between Colin and herself.

People did each other dirty, but it somehow ended up alright.

Because humans are different from all the other species because they have one special quality, which most would view as a weakness: the ability to get vulnerable before others.

Humans only hurt those they become close to, those who have seen their vulnerabilities, and those who've shown them their vulnerabilities.

And this could either ruin a relationship, or forge one stronger than the previous one. It depends on how one looks at it.

Is showing vulnerability a weakness, or a strength?

Most would say it is a weakness, claiming that without showing anyone your vulnerabilities, your heart remains safe, protected and unbroken.

The writer claims the opposite. She believes that by showing vulnerability, it is accepting human nature and allowing others to come close enough to forge their soul with yours.

They say, the more, the merrier, and the writer agrees, adding that two souls are stronger that one. 

Of course there will be disagreements on the rocky road of life, but the destination is the only thing that is of significance.

The thrill, the excitement... that is what truly matters in life, that is the true definition of living.

Is the climb worth the view?

Is the fall worth the fly?

What good is life without taking the risk? Without the exhilarating sensation of allowing someone to get close enough for your soul to dance with theirs?

What is the point of having a heart and caging it away?

{ hey guys ! so sorry for the late update... couldn't get round to writing this chapter... finally finished it.
just popping in to say that i don't think i will be able to update again until the end of november as i am super busy with work and exams.. 
in the mean time, let's get this chapter to 150 votes, please, please please 🥺🥺
otherwise, hope you all are doing okay, and i love you all so, so much. do spam me with comments and let me know what you thought of this chapter.
socials are in the bio.
lots of love,
jas, xoxo }