IT WAS A TREMENDOUSLY GOOD thing that Ophelia didn't run into Harry at all that evening, because if she did, she would have killed him without regret.

Gone was the calm, collected anger she bore. Now, her rage had turned animalistic, and with every minute that passed without her releasing her fury, it only grew and accumulated in her blackened soul with a  promise of a darker unleashing.

Theo had made sure she was never alone until she fell asleep, giving the responsibility to Mariana to keep Ophelia grounded when she was in Gryffindor territory. 

The phrase 'morning brings counsel' did not apply to Ophelia in this case. Whilst most people's anger simmer down by the time they wake up in the morning to a new day, Ophelia Malfoy did not fall into the category of most people. 

It did appear that she was calm when she woke up, judging by the way she kept silent as she gracefully got ready for the day. 

And she seemed perfectly at peace when she sat down at the Gryffindor table, in her usual spot next to Colin Creevey and had a plateful of strawberries and whipped cream.

She looked to be perfectly well all morning, until she saw him. 

Harry Potter, Granger and the boy Weasel coming down to the Gryffindor table for breakfast.

All this time, she had been fine. 

One glimpse of Harry was enough to bring back the raging inferno of fury and rage she felt.

And her anger was much, much worse than it was last night.

Ophelia was feral.

"YOU!" she growled, instantly spotting Harry, and standing up, uncaring of the plate of strawberries that slipped from the table and clattered to the floor as she did so. "YOU MURDERING ASSHOLE—"

Harry instantly stepped back and drew his wand, pointing it directly at Ophelia, who snatched it without second thought and tossed it aside as she launched herself all over him, her hands reaching for his throat.

Harry dodged, but that didn't stop the Malfoy heiress. She was ignorant of the stares she was receiving; all her attention was on killing Harry Potter.

Ophelia was fully prepared to throw herself on Harry again, but she suddenly found herself held back, unable to move her arms or feet. 

Colin had stood up and wrapped his arms around her waist from behind, pulling her away from the scene, her arms outstretched in front of her as she tried to grab Harry.

But Colin was tugging her backwards, so no matter how much she stretched in his direction, she would never reach the Boy Who Lived.

"Ophelia, come on, calm down," Colin was struggling to pull her back, grunts leaving him whilst the Malfoy girl used all her strength to lean in the opposite direction, towards Harry, yelling the most colorful words in front of all the other students and teachers.

"YOU COWARDLY FUCKER!" she roared, her blonde curls spilling everywhere as she fought to get out of Colin's grasp. "Let go of me," she whimpered, her eyes watering. "He's a murderer!" she kept yelling, pointing at Harry. "He almost fucking killed my brother—"

Harry's stupid face glared at her, and Ophelia's urge to kill him only grew. He didn't apologize. He just stood there, still, staring at her defensively.

Ophelia didn't realize when Theo had left the Slytherin table and come to stand by her side. "Lia, he's not worth it.." Theo murmured, gently holding her hand to pull her away from Harry.

"Let go of her, Creevey, I got her now," Theo's dark blue eyes were staring at Colin with hatred, who was touching his girl.

"I've got it handled," Colin replied coolly, oblivious to Theo's death glare.

The next thing Ophelia knew was that Colin had finally let go of her and Colin was on the floor, after Theo had punched him, straight to the floor.

She would have normally stopped Theo from fighting Colin, but right now, all she cared about was Harry.

Wand at the ready, the blonde had already started throwing spells in the direction of the boy who lived, who had picked up his wand and began to duel with her in the middle of the Great Hall.

"Levicorpus—" Harry yelled, but Ophelia dodged it with a single flick of her wand.

"That the best you can do, Potter?" she growled. "Confringo—"

The tip of her wand resembled the mouth of a dragon when a burst of flames erupted from her wand, and Harry instantly used the water charm to fight her fire.

"Expelliarmus!" Harry tried, but Ophelia was too quick for him. "Stupef—"

She never got to finish her spell. Hermione and Mariana each grabbed a hand and pulled her away from Harry.

Mariana managed to grab Ophelia's attention by gently tapping her cheek and telling her that Colin and Theo were fighting.

That was what snapped Ophelia out of her daze.

Colin and Theo were tangled into a headlock, both furiously trying to attack each other. They were arguing, muttering things under their breaths, and the blonde caught a glimpse of what they were saying.

"Don't you dare touch her with your filthy hands—" Colin hissed, punching Theo's arm, who only dealt a harsher blow straight into Colin's face, causing blood to splatter everywhere.

"As if your hands are any cleaner, you filthy fucking mudblood—" Theo scoffed, before grabbing Colin by the collar and slamming him straight into the wall. "You'll never be worthy of her—"

Stop! 

Ophelia wanted to yell, but she found herself mute.

The sheer intensity of the emotion that swallowed her whole was enough to petrify her in the same spot, hand clapped over her mouth, eyes widened as she stared at the scene that played out before her, tears spilling down her cheeks.

Theo had grabbed Colin's head and slammed it into the wall, until there was a nauseating crack and Colin went unconscious.

There was blood.

Everywhere.

Yet Theo kept slamming Colin's head into the wall. Again, and again, and Ophelia, who was engulfed completely in self loathing and hatred did nothing but watch.

This was her fault.

Because she knew that Theo and Colin weren't fighting the never-ending Gryffindor and Slytherin battle.

No, this was personal.

They were both fighting for her.

Everything around her was a blur. 

Professor McGonagall gave her, Theo, and Harry detention for fighting whilst Colin was instantly rushed to the hospital wing, covered in blood.

But Ophelia didn't notice.

Professor McGonagall was yelling at them, scolding them for their careless behavior, but Ophelia couldn't hear a word.

No, the only thing on her mind was the same image of Theo and Colin fighting, which played over and over again in her head, a siren's call, a warning to her that time was running out.

She had to choose one of them.

{ hey guys! so yet another dramatic chapter... the past few chapters have just been fight after fight... i can say that this is the last one ;) though i can't promise the drama is over. we're almost done with hbp, and boy can i say that i never expected to reach this far...
i also wanted to dedicate this chapter to liam payne, who left us all yesterday. rest in peace, liam, you will forever be remembered.
socials are in my bio, please follow.
spam me with comments here, vote, follow and share this story... drop your predictions/future hopes for this story, i'm still writing it :))
lots of love, jasmine.
xoxo }

{ OCT 18. 2024 }