ON THE TWENTY-FOURTH OF APRIL, much to their administering shock and surprise, Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy were blessed with a baby girl.

Lucius Malfoy took one look at the tiny girl in his arms, and instantly fell in love with her, already claiming that she was the most perfect, most beautiful human to ever grace the earth with her presence. 

It had been rumored that there was a curse upon the Malfoy family, such that it was almost believed to be true. For almost two hundred years, every single generation, only one male heir had been produced to continue the Malfoy family, and no other children.

When Draco Malfoy was born, Narcissa Malfoy was overjoyed that she could finally become the mother she so wanted to, and all her attention and doting fell upon her son. Needless to say, both Lucius and Narcissa never even dreamed they would have the daughter they both so desperately craved.

Narcissa had been having troubles with her previous pregnancies, having two miscarriages before Draco. After her son was born, she never expected to have another child.

Naturally, when the news came out that she was pregnant again, a year after Draco's birth, both her and Lucius were confused on whether to be happy or sad. But as month after month passed, the baby Narcissa carried only got stronger, and perhaps, the baby would make it after all.. And finally, on a fine, spring day, at the very brink of twilight, there was a new Malfoy.

She was their miracle. Somehow, after her birth, all rumors of the Malfoy curse vanquished into thin air. And as Lucius and Narcissa looked at their little baby, and decided to name her Ophelia Narcissa Malfoy.

Ophelia Malfoy grew up to be a very sweet girl. Her father absolutely doted on her, and it was clear she was his favorite. Since birth, she was spoiled rotten by both her parents..

Draco and Ophelia were the epitome of perfection. No pureblood children were graced with such prominent features, and they were given the absolute best of everything.

As they both grew older, they began having friends. Narcissa would often invite the Zabinis, the Notts, the Greengrasses and the Parkinsons too. Ophelia didn't do well with company her age. She didn't talk to any the girls her age, or interact with them, for she found them all too obsessed with pretty dresses and the like. Of course, she too, loved wearing pretty dresses and copying her mother when she sat to get dressed, but she preferred talking about the other interesting things that Draco and his friends talked about.

The little girl absolutely adored her brother.

This was why whenever Mrs. Malfoy invited guests over, Ophelia would tail after Draco, Blaise, and Theodore Nott, trying so hard to be one of them.

But she wasn't one of them.

Draco, although he did care about her, found it very annoying when his little sister tagged along behind him, when he was with his friends. He would complain to his mother about this, and Narcissa would hope to entertain her daughter by teaching her the things that girls her age did.

Ophelia, being her father's favorite, complained to her father that Draco and her mother weren't allowing her to play with the boys. Lucius, pretended to be very upset about this, and told his daughter that he would play with her instead. And so, he took her out in the garden, and played with her.

Little did she know, he secretly agreed with Narcissa. Ophelia was his precious diamond, and he didn't want her near any boys. She was only his, and his alone.

And so, whenever the Malfoys had company, Lucius would specifically stay home to spend time with his daughter. He taught her how to play the piano, how to dance, and even how to play Quidditch.

By the time she was seven, Narcissa rarely used to have company over, save for the Notts, since Draco and Theodore were the best of friends. They did everything together, and so, that meant that Theodore was at Malfoy Manor at least twice a week. 

Ophelia would spend most of her time alone, as she had no company or friends of her own, since Draco repeatedly warned her to stay away whenever Theodore was home. 

One day, when she was looking at flowers in the garden, Draco and Theodore were playing hide and seek, and Theodore had found her looking at the lily flowers. He invited her to come play with them, and so, she did.

And so, she finally got what she wanted since she was old enough to walk. To play with her brother and his friends, and go on adventures, and run and frisk and frolic. 

When Theodore was nine years old, and he'd come over to play one afternoon, he got the news that his mother had passed away.

Ophelia still remembered how much he cried. He refused to eat, or drink anything, sobbing hysterically in Narcissa Malfoy's arms. 

When he'd fallen asleep on the couch, Ophelia had gotten him a bar of chocolate to eat, after noticing he hadn't eaten anything, and she woke him up to eat. She told him that she'd always be there for him, and that she was sure his mother was in heaven, since she was such a nice lady. And Theodore, who was so eternally grateful for those words, gave her a hug.

His mood seemed considerably better after that.

On Ophelia's tenth birthday party, Narcissa and Lucius invited their usual circle of friends, which meant that the youngest Malfoy, once again, had to interact with Pansy, Astoria and Daphne, after nearly three years of not seeing them.

Much to her disgust, Pansy, Astoria and Daphne were not her type of friends. They rarely cared for a sense of adventure, instead, preoccupying themselves with the latest fashions and the like.

Ophelia then joined Draco, Blaise and Theo, who were playing outside. But after she approached her brother, and asked him if she could play, he told her to go away and stay away from him and his friends.

Ophelia had run off crying, wearing her light blue dress and a princess tiara. Her birthday didn't feel so special anymore.

Running off to hide in the treehouse, most probably to cry her eyes out, she never expected to see Theodore follow her.

She told him to go away, but he didn't. Instead, he told her not to cry and ruin her birthday. Ophelia had then cried that she didn't have any friends, and much to her surprise, Theodore told her she was special, and that he'd always be her friend, and she could play with him any time she wanted.

Ophelia had never had anyone tell her such nice things, so she did the most unexpected thing; she gave her brother's best friend a hug, and told her, she'd always be his friend too.

It was only a few months later that Draco got his Hogwarts letter, and before Ophelia knew it, he was off to Hogwarts. Ophelia then realized that the house was so incredibly quiet. Despite the fact that she didn't get along very well with her brother, she missed him terribly. 

Narcissa used to teach her crocheting, embroidery, and how to play all the different types of instruments. She did enjoy these activities, but things were so dull without Draco. 

No more did Theodore come over to play, for he was at Hogwarts too. 

And so, Ophelia wrote many, many times to Draco, telling him she missed him, but not once did he return her letters. He wrote to Narcissa and Lucius, telling them all about how exciting Hogwarts was, and how he was in the same year as Harry Potter.

Ophelia then tried writing to Theodore. He did send letters back, but they were very short compared to hers. Eventually, the letters from Theodore just stopped as well. Ophelia supposed that they were both just too busy having fun adventures at Hogwarts to care about her. 

And so, she stopped writing letters altogether too.

Christmas came, and Ophelia begged her father to take her to the Platform to pick Draco up. Theodore was staying the holidays too, since his father was abroad on a business trip to Italy.

 When Ophelia saw Draco for the first time in months, she threw her arms around him so hard, yelling that she missed him so loud, the entire platform could hear. But he merely patted her on the back, before launching into conversation with his parents, telling them all about Hogwarts.

Ophelia did try to engage in conversation with Theo, who smiled at her a few times, but pretty soon, he joined Draco in his room as they played games, and Ophelia couldn't help but feel incredibly left out. 

Throughout the two-week Christmas break, Ophelia rarely saw anything of her brother and his best friend. They barely spent any time with her at all. They would constantly be laughing and conversing about Hogwarts, while she used to wait by the door for them to join her and play in the snow.

She ended up playing alone. 

Ophelia couldn't help but notice that they were all grown up. No longer did they care about making up stories, and going on adventures. Instead, all they spoke of was Hogwarts. She felt very left out, and for once, finally realized that she would no longer have any adventures. 

After Draco and Theodore left for Hogwarts, Ophelia spent the night crying in her bedroom, feeling so incredibly lonely that she had nobody to play with. 

When Lucius opened the door to say goodnight, his heart shattered when he saw his pride and joy in tears. After listening to what Ophelia had to say, Lucius decided he'd work from home for the rest of the year, choosing to spend time with his daughter, so as to not make her feel lonely.

And together, they went on adventures, and made memories.

A year later, the time came for Ophelia to go to Hogwarts. She had never been so excited as the day she got her letter. She knew that it was finally time for her to join Draco at Hogwarts, hoping that she could join him on his adventures, and perhaps, not feel so left out. 

When she was on the platform, boarding the train, Lucius Malfoy was nearly in tears, as he knew that the time had come for her to go to Hogwarts. After making Draco swear to protect her at all costs, Lucius half-heartedly let his daughter go. 

And it killed him inside.

Ophelia sat in a compartment with Draco and his friends, and much to her dismay, Pansy Parkinson, Astoria, and Daphne Greengrass. She couldn't help but feel that she was one of them, as they told her all about Hogwarts, and how magical it was.

Unfortunately for her, she would never be one of them, for the sorting hat had put her into the wrong house. Instead of being sorted into Slytherin, she was sorted into Gryffindor.

Shouts could be heard all across the Great Hall, on how a Malfoy was sorted into Gryffindor. All of her friends, all the people she knew looked at her with disgust as she joined the Gryffindor table, her head low, eating nothing, and spending all night crying. 

From then on, she became an outcast, a 'filthy Gryffindor' as Draco put it. Ophelia didn't know why she'd expected her brother to stand up for her, but clearly, she was wrong. It was as if her worst fears had come true. Where she thought she'd finally be happy at Hogwarts, the complete opposite had happened. And the worst part was that this time, her father wasn't there to rescue her.

Ophelia had never felt more alone in all her life.

It didn't take long for the news to reach Lucius' ears. His daughter, a Gryffindor? No, she couldn't be, there must have been a mistake. Lucius was fully prepared to write Dumbledore a letter, to put her in Slytherin.

But as soon as his quill touched his parchment, a letter came from Ophelia, and as Lucius read it, his heart broke even more. There were tearstains all over her writing, and the ink was smudged in some places. 

She wrote on how sorry she was for getting sorted in the wrong house, and how much people were staring at her, and gossiping behind her back. She told him how much she missed him, and how Draco had embarrassed her and laughed at her face rudely that she wasn't a true Malfoy. Lastly, she finished off the letter apologizing for being a disappointment.

Lucius couldn't bring himself to write to Dumbledore. He had expected his son to take care of his daughter, but after reading the letter, Lucius decided that he didn't trust Draco enough to take care of his sister. From then on, Draco wasn't worthy of his affection.

And so, Lucius wrote back to his daughter, telling her that he was proud of her no matter what. 

And that was enough to get Ophelia through, at least, until Christmas.

Lucius, who was so disappointed with Draco, wrote to him to stay at Hogwarts for the Christmas break. On seeing her father at the platform, waiting for her, Ophelia ran into his arms and sobbed for her life on how she never wanted to go back to Hogwarts again.

And Lucius only told her that he must, for she was so incredibly brave and special, that she was placed in Gryffindor. He told her she was a Malfoy, and she should be proud of her name.

And so she went back.

Alone. 

She had long drifted apart from her Slytherin acquaintances, including her brother. She ignored them, and they ignored her.

Having no friends, she was teased by the Gryffindors and made fun off, until Ophelia decided she'd had enough. She decided she didn't need friends, and so decided to take her father's advice. 

To be proud of who she was.

She took the Malfoy name, and wore it like a crown. Like she was the queen, and the rest were her servants. Rude to everyone and anyone that came in her way, she built up her front so strong, that it was nearly impossible to see the little, lonely girl behind her mask.

She was intimidating,  hexing anyone who dared say anything about her, and she demanded respect, and in time, she realized that nobody made fun of her anymore.

For her, it was better to be hated and feared, than be loved and respected.

{ hey guys,, welcome to my new fanfiction, i hope you like it,, i was very nervous when writing it. it's a new writing style,, and i'm trying it out. feel free to leave comments,, and please do vote,, follow,, and share to show your support. i am not sure about the update schedule for this yes,, it depends on how many people like it. anyway,, take care.  love,, jasmine. }

{FEB 13. 2023}