BORN TO DIE    ╱    DRACO MALFOY
꒷꒦ · ˚.‧ . written by ella . . . © -lostgardens
081 ━━━━━━━━━ ❛ headquarters ❜

As the Mallards walked into the Black family home, 12 Grimmauld Place, which had long been vacant of residents, Olivia looked around, taking in everything. This apparently was where the Order of the Phoenix meetings took place, something Clodagh and Andrew had been sneaking off all summer to upon the return of Voldemort without telling their children. But now, Olivia and Lucas were finally invited and in the loop about it all.

Olivia knew very little about the Black family personally, aside from their family tree (which she liked to study along with the ones of other families) and the fact that they were majority pureblood (a little more pure than some others—in a blood-status sense, not in their ways of keeping it that way). They were also secretive, blood purists, mostly Death Eaters or shared their beliefs, rich and powerful in their prime, being part of the Sacred Twenty-Eight. It was rare for one of them not to follow the power of Voldemort or his purist ways (ironic since he was not considered "pure" himself, having a Muggle father and all), but Sirius clearly hadn't been like them, unlike what most still believed.

All right, perhaps she knew quite a bit about them.

From her large knowledge of their bloodline, the only person who was still alive and held the Black surname was Sirius. Besides him, Narcissa Malfoy, Bellatrix Lestrange, Andromeda Tonks (if she were still alive, that was—Olivia was not sure since the woman had not been seen in quite some time), her daughter, Nymphadora Tonks, and Draco were the closest blood relatives to them that were still breathing that she was aware of. A lot of the other families in the Wizarding World were also distantly related to them as well (not including the Mallards or O'Sheas, thank Merlin—that would just be weird), but the distance was rather grand. It was kind of funny when one thought about it—Draco being related to (once more, distantly) the Weasleys, Longbottoms, Potters, and a lot of the other families he mocked and thought of as traitors and impure. It made Olivia wonder if he would go mad if he actually thought about it.

She'd like to be there to see that.

Shaking the history lesson from her mind, Olivia continued to walk, looking forward. Her eyes landed on Missus Weasley, who stood at the end of the hall, taking in the redhead and troubled look upon her expression as she stared up the staircase, like she was watching someone, but no one was there.

It only took a few more steps before the family (only considered such since they were blood related) stopped in front of her. She immediately turned to them, and a warm and comforting smile turned the corners of her mouth, her eyes mostly focusing on the two teenagers and only casting a small glance in Andrew and Clodagh's directions. And this gave Olivia the feeling that she didn't get along well with her parents.

"Hello, dears," the Weasley woman greeted them kindly.

"Hello, Molly," Clodagh replied for them with a tip of her head, causing the witch in front of her to give her a less than satisfied look. Olivia was sure that they were best friends by any means, and she didn't blame Missus Weasley for that at all. Clodagh ignored the look, turning her head to the side and over her shoulder, not even meeting her children's gazes from where they stood to her right. "Olivia, Lucas, go upstairs," she ordered them with no further explanation.

Olivia rolled her eyes, knowing her mother was still buggered about what happened at the ball mere weeks ago, and that was where her attitude was (mostly) coming from. Was it rather embarrassing, not only for Olivia but for her family too? Yes. But that didn't mean her mother had to hold it over her head for the rest of her life, like she did with every other little mistake she made. She'd been drunk on Firewhisky after all. It wasn't as if she'd been thinking clearly. And it was a one-time thing; she'd swore it to the woman and to herself, never wanting to show vulnerability in front of that many strangers again.

Shoving her focus back into reality and pushing what had happened to the back of her mind, Olivia and Lucas brushed past their parents without argument and began towards the stairs, sending small smiles to Missus Weasley on their way by her, which the woman returned and told them, "First door on the left."

They took note of her words and made their way up the stairs and to the first door on the left, passing by a rather grumbly house elf that reminded Olivia a lot of Snape in a way, with his muttering about "if his mistress was there to see who was in her home." When Olivia turned the knob of the door and pushed it open, hers and her brother's eyes caught onto the Golden Trio, who turned to them with surprised expressions.

"What are you two doing here?" the ginger boy asked, looking them up and down as he narrowed his eyes with an almost disgusted yet confused sneer.

"Our parents are here, Weasley," Olivia replied flatly, lifting her chin.

"Surprisingly," he muttered under his breath, rolling his eyes.

Olivia scowled at him as Harry stepped forward. "So what is this place?" he inquired, cutting through the back and forth before it could turn into bickering. He looked around the room they were in as he waited for an answer.

It was a heavily decorated bedroom with a single bed in the center, which had a bed table next to it and a fireplace across from it, a wardrobe along the wall where the door stood, a desk to the right of the window, and a chair to the left of it. It was rather darkly designed, with the furniture all being made from deep-in-color wood and the decorations going along with that theme.

The other four were silent for a moment as their eyes trained on him. Then Weasley said, "It's headquarters."

"Of the Order of the Phoenix," Granger added, seeming a tad eager to tell her best friend all about it as he turned to face them once more. "It's a secret society." She took a breath as Potter walked to the side of the bed. "Dumbledore formed it back when they first fought You-Know-Who," she explained, and Olivia shifted on her feet at the mention of the dark wizard.

"You couldn't have put any of this in a letter, I suppose?" Harry seemed slightly upset at the lack of knowledge about this place and what it was used for, as well as the fact that the two he trusted the most did and hadn't told him. Weasley and Granger just glanced at each other in guilt, while Olivia and Lucas looked at each other with awkwardness. "I've gone all summer without a scrap of news," he added, sounding rather irritated due to his being kept in the dark.

"We wanted to write, mate," Weasley admitted sheepishly, his hands stuffed in his pockets as he shrugged his shoulders. "Really, we did. Only..."

"Only what?"

"Only Dumbledore made us swear not to tell you anything," Granger confessed quickly, her tone breathy and full of guilt, as if she'd been waiting to get the information out—like it was killing her to hold it in.

Olivia was sure it was.

An expression of hurt crossed Harry's face. "Dumbledore said that?"

Everyone fell silent as the boy's best friends looked at him with sorrow.

Harry then turned to Olivia and Lucas, raising his brows, though his gaze was mainly focused on the girl. "And what about you two?" he questioned, despite the fact that they hadn't sent any letters to each other over the summer.

The siblings looked up, finding his eyes, and then they glanced at one another. "We didn't know anything about this until tonight," Olivia told him, focusing on Harry again. "I swear. Our parents have been keeping us in the dark as well."

He sighed, his eyes finding the ground for a second before looking up again, eyeing nothing in particular. "But why would he wanna keep me in the dark? Maybe I could help." His thoughts were now back on how Dumbledore had told his two closest friends to keep information from him. "After all, I-I'm the one who saw Voldemort return. I'm the one who fought him. I'm the one who saw Cedric Diggory get killed."

Olivia shifted her weight. "You're not the only one who saw those things, Harry," she said, his voice quieter than before as she fiddled with her hands, picking at the skin around her nails but keeping her eyes on him. "No"—she tipped her head with a half-shrug—"I didn't fight Voldemort, but I was still there," she reminded him. "I got tortured. I was kept in the dark too."

Harry opened his mouth to speak, but before he could...

"Harry!" The twins popped up behind him with grins on their faces, starting everyone. Olivia jumped in place, placing her hand on her chest as she cursed under her breath. She then focused on them with an annoyed look, seeing one of them with his hand on the boy's shoulder, causing Harry to turn to them. She hoped the others also had rapidly beating hearts as she let out a calming breath.

"Thought we heard your dulcet tones," one told him with a smile.

Every time it'd been a while since she'd seen them, Olivia forgot which was which, always going back to square one. This time was no different, and it had only been a couple of months since the end of the prior school year.

"Don't bottle it up, though, mate. Let it out," the other added, sitting down on the bed and beside his brother.

Then the first spoke again. "Anyway, if you're all done shouting..."

"Do you wanna hear something a little more interesting?" His brother finished his request for him, both of them with devious looks on their faces as their eyes trailed from Harry to each and every other person in the room.

A moment later, the lot of them stood at the top of the staircase, dangling an ear from a string down far enough so that they could listen in on the meeting that was taking place in the kitchen.

"If anyone has a right to know, it's Harry and Olivia," Sirius told the others, his voice a little echoey in their ears as it came from the other ear. "If it wasn't for them, we wouldn't even know Voldemort was back. He's not a child, Molly. And neither is she, Clodagh." None of them could see any of them, but Olivia just knew that he was pointing his finger at her mother based on his tone.

"Trust me, I'm fully aware of that," Clodagh replied, sounding bored and annoyed at the same time. "But she acts like it often." Olivia rolled her eyes at this. Her mother was the one who acted like a child, not her.

"But they're not adults either," Molly countered, clearly not wanting the two teenagers to know whatever it was that they were discussing. Olivia had a feeling there was a lot of that going on, especially with her parents for the majority of her life. She knew they kept secrets from her, but she never tried to seek out the truth for more than a couple of months at a time. She always ended up getting distracted by something or someone else. "He's not James, Sirius, and she's not her mother."

"Thankfully," Olivia muttered, causing the twins to give her an amused look.

"Well, he's not your son," Sirius reminded her.

"He's as good as..." Molly replied sternly, and then the room fell silent for a moment before she continued. "Who else has he got? Olivia's got Clodagh and Andrew." Olivia practically scoffed at this bold claim. "But who does Harry have?"

"Hey, Ginny," Harry whispered as the girl walked over to them.

Olivia glanced over and smiled at the girl, who stood beside her.

"You don't understand, Sirius. It's not that I think of my daughter as a child; it's that I don't think, when it comes down to it, she'll give up certain things for the sake of what's right. She's selfish, and she always has been." Olivia felt something squeeze at her heart as everyone looked at her. Then she heard her mother let out a sigh. "Lucas, on the other hand, might stray from what his sister tells him to do, but I can never be sure. He's easily persuaded. If Olivia tells him to do something, he does it. He's sensitive, and that's a weakness of his that she could prey on."

The silence that fell over the room was probably more deafening in the actual room than it was to the group listening in from the top of the stairs. And it was quite damn loud for them. Or at least to Olivia and Lucas.

"You don't trust your own daughter, Clodagh?" Sirius finally asked.

"No."

"Well..." He paused for a short second. "I've only met her once, but I spoke to her and saw how she stood up for you despite what you think of her and how I'm sure you've treated her over the years." Olivia felt tears of gratitude (or perhaps it was sadness, though she'd never admit that her mother's words got to her) filling her eyes at his words, but she swallowed them down, not wanting to show the others what she was feeling. "And I can easily say that I'm certain she's more than capable of taking on whatever task is thrown her way, even if you are not," he told her, his voice a little stern, causing Olivia to wonder if her mother's lack of trust and faith in her hit something inside of Sirius—a nerve of familiarity from his own mother, perhaps? "As for your question, Molly, Harry has got me."

"How touchingly paternal, Black." The familiar monotone voice of Snape rang in their ears, and Olivia hated the shock that ran through her at the fact that the professor was at one of these meetings—that he was even part of the Order in the first place. It wasn't as if she thought he would be on the other side. No matter how cruel her parents were, they'd never knowingly associate themselves so closely with a Death Eater, and they sure wouldn't let their daughter do so either. And Dumbledore sure wouldn't have hired him at Hogwarts. But still, it was a shock that he was willingly there, especially since Sirius was as well.

"Perhaps Potter will grow up to be a felon, just like his godfather," the professor continued, causing Olivia to roll her eyes. She held grudges like no other, but Snape was on a whole other level than her, though she supposed Sirius wasn't far from him in that sense either. She remembered quite clearly how the two bickered back and forth when they'd all found themselves in the Shrieking Shack.

"Now, you stay out of this, Snivellus," Sirius retorted.

Harry looked up and asked, "Snape's part of the Order?"

"Git," Weasley muttered.

Olivia looked up at the boys. "He's not that bad."

Weasley just gave her an odd look, to which she widened her eyes, nonverbally asking him what he was looking at. He just rolled his eyes and looked down to the bottom of the staircase again, and she did the same a second later, after she, too, rolled her eyes.

"...about your supposed reformation," Sirius's voice came back into focus. "I know better."

Supposed reformation? Olivia thought to herself, knitting her brows in confusion. Had he been a Death Eater once before but now wasn't? How had she not known this? Just another thing to add to the list of secrets her parents had kept from her. And why was Sirius still suspicious of the man's loyalties?

"So why don't you tell him?" Snape countered.

But their words got lost when a tabby cat began messing with the ear.

"Get off it," one of the twins quietly told the cat with an urgency in his tone, trying to move the ear from the cat's reach, though that only made it want the thing more.

"Quick. Get it up," the other twin instructed in a hushed whisper.

Granger leaned even further over the banister, and Olivia supposed that it was her cat that they were staring down at. "Crookshanks," she called out in a low voice so they wouldn't get caught listening in on the meeting, which now they couldn't hear any of because of the bloody feline. "Stop it."

"Get off, you bloody cat."

Granger continued, "Crookshanks."

"Get it up," one of the older boys said.

"Leave it alone," Granger added, tapping her hand on the railing she leaned against. But then her cat, Crookshanks, had the ear and was running off with it, leaving them in complete silence.

"Hermione, I hate your cat," the twin to Olivia's right stated, now holding a string with nothing hanging from the other end.

"Bad Crookshanks," Granger scolded, causing Weasley to chuckle.

A little bit later, the group of teenagers was piling down the stairs one by one. Olivia planned on ignoring her mother after she so easily made known how she felt about both of her children. Besides, she knew the woman wouldn't make an effort to speak to her anyway. It was always better like that; they actually got along when they weren't speaking to each other.

"Well, we'll be eating down in the kitchen," Molly told them with a bright smile as she stood at the bottom of the stairs. But that smile quickly went away when her twins popped up behind her like they'd done with Harry, causing her to jump. "Oh!" she shouted, tossing her hands up and stomping her foot. She then turned around to smack one of the boy's arms as Olivia muffled her laughter with her hand over her mouth. "Just because you're allowed to use magic now does not mean you have to whip your wands out for everything!" Her tone was loud as the two ran off, laughing.

Ginny just rounded her. "Hi, mum," she said softly just before following where her brothers went, no doubt to the kitchen.

Ron just tensely scooted past her with his eyes locked on hers, not wanting to be the next to get yelled at as his mother narrowed her eyes at him warningly and then focused on his best friend with a sweet smile, much like the one she'd given Olivia and Lucas when they'd first arrived. "You hungry, Harry?" she asked.

Before the boy could answer her question, Mr. Weasley came up beside his wife, placing his arm over her shoulder. "You sure you're all right, Harry? Gave us quite a turn."

Still, Harry did not get to reply as Sirius and Remus stepped out of the room the meeting must've been taking place in. "Harry Potter," the boy's godfather said, and Mister and Missus Weasley stepped out of the way so that Harry and Sirius could see each other.

It was then that a bright and cheerful smile, more so than Olivia had ever seen the boy have, overtook his face as the man lifted his arms for a hug. Harry quickly moved over to him. "Sirius," he said as he wrapped his arms around the man, who did the same to him, both of them hugging each other tightly with happiness in their expressions.

Lupin just leaned against the door frame, watching them with joy.

When the two pulled apart, Sirius's eyes shifted over to Olivia, who stood behind the boy with a soft and happy grin on her face. "Ah, Olivia! It's good to see you." He returned her smile, walked over to her, and wrapped her in a hug.

For a second, she was still before she hugged him back tightly. Then they pulled apart, both with the same small grins on their faces. And then Sirius turned to Lucas, presumably to greet the boy he'd never had the pleasure of meeting before then. "And you must be..." His voice fell short, and his expression fell shocked as his eyes focused on and took in the boy in front of him, who was creeping on being the same height as him, even at his younger age.

"Lucas," the boy finished for the man, sticking out his hand for Sirius to shake, with the other resting behind his back, bent at the elbow, and a faint smile curling up the corners of his mouth.

Sirius looked down at Lucas's hand and then slowly raised his own to shake it. "Forgive me," he said, letting out a short chuckle, the grin returning to his face, just a little less happy as his expression somewhat settled back into his former one. "You just resemble my brother so much, I suppose it took me by surprise."

Olivia's brows furrowed as her parents came to stand beside Lupin, though she didn't pay any mind to them. "Does he?" she asked, glancing between Sirius and her brother. She'd read a little bit about Sirius's late younger brother, Regulus Black, but not much. As always, pureblood families loved to keep their secrets, and she supposed Regulus was just another one of them. She'd read about him when studying the Black family tree many times, but she had no idea what the boy had looked like. But apparently, it was much like Lucas.

Sirius looked at her and then nodded, humming in response.

After that, they headed towards the kitchen. Everyone sat down at the table. Snape was nowhere in sight, and she wasn't surprised by that. The man didn't seem to be the type to want to stick around for a supper full of stories and laughter after a business meeting. She swore that laughter and cheerfulness were the man's weaknesses—they drained him of his strength and magic. Or perhaps he was just dramatic and lonely, never wanting to be around people longer than he had to. She was personally going to go with the latter, though she couldn't fault him for it. She held her alone time dear to her heart as well.

"This is very, very peculiar," the Weasley man said, while Ginny and Lucas, laughing, watched Tonks snort like a pig and shift her face into that of one. "It seems that your hearing at the Ministry is to be before the entire Wizengamot," he explained to Harry, catching Olivia's attention. She remembered that Harry had used magic outside of school due to a dementor attack on him and his Muggle cousin—information she'd gotten from her parents before arriving there. His hearing was one of the main reasons he was even brought to headquarters that night.

"I don't understand. What has the Ministry of Magic got against me?" asked Harry.

They fell silent as Ginny continued to giggle at Tonks antics, and then Moody, who lurked in the shadows, grumbled, "Show him. He'll find out soon enough."

Everyone went quiet as they watched Shacklebolt unfold the Daily Prophet and hand it to the boy. Headlining, the words The Boy Who Lies? in big, bold letters crossed the top of the page as Harry stared down at it, his photograph from the final task of the Triwizard Tournament front and center underneath. Olivia reminded herself that Harry lived in the Muggle World when he wasn't at school, meaning that he didn't see the recent headlines in the Daily Prophet.

"He's been attacking Dumbledore as well," Sirius admitted, speaking about Minister Fudge as the headline changed to Fudge: "All Is Well" and the photograph became one of Fudge to go along with it. He paused, glancing at the girl sitting on the right of his godson. "And Olivia, too."

Harry met her eyes, giving her a curious look.

She just met it with a tense and slightly hurt, thin-lipped smile as she thought back to all of the headlines she'd been seeing about herself ever since Cedric's death was reported. "Apparently I am a murderer, and you've just been lying about Voldemort being back to protect me," she explained. "That's not exactly what Fudge has been saying, but his words have been quite close."

"Yes, and we all know how you feel about them, Olivia Katherine," Clodagh said snarkily.

Andrew sighed, closing his eyes. "Clodagh..."

The woman just turned to her husband with a questioning look.

"Fudge is using all of his power, including his influence at the Daily Prophet, to smear anyone who claims the Dark Lord has returned," Sirius further explained, ignoring Clodagh's words.

"Why?" Harry asked.

"The minister thinks Dumbledore's after his job," Remus answered.

"But that's insane," Harry said. "No one in their right mind could believe that Dumbledore—"

"Exactly the point." The former professor nodded, pointing his finger aimlessly. "Fudge isn't in his right mind. It's been twisted and warped by fear." He paused as Harry looked at him with furrowed brows. "Now, fear makes people do terrible things, Harry. The last time Voldemort gained power, he almost destroyed everything we hold most dear."

Olivia glanced over at her mother, watching the woman adjust herself in her seat, seeming uncomfortable. Most wouldn't blame one for being when speaking on such subjects as Voldemort and the First Wizarding War, but this was Clodagh Mallard of all people; she didn't get uncomfortable. In fact, she was the one who made people uncomfortable with fear.

Olivia narrowed her eyes as she studied the woman, curious as to what she was thinking about. But then her mother met her gaze with a heated and glaring one of her own, and the discomfort in her body went away quickly, turning stiff and stern.

The girl just rolled her eyes and focused back on Lupin as he said, "Now, he's returned, and I'm afraid the minister will do almost anything to avoid facing that terrifying truth."

"We think Voldemort wants to build up his army again," Sirius confessed, and now Olivia was the one shifting in her seat uncomfortably, remembering how four of her friends' fathers were in the graveyard the night Voldemort returned. "Fourteen years ago, he had huge numbers under his command. And not just witches and wizards, but all manners of dark creatures. And unfortunately, a few of our families were a part of that." He glanced over at Clodagh and Andrew, then refocused back on Harry. "He's been recruiting heavily, and we've been attempting to do the same." He paused, choosing his next words carefully. "But gathering followers isn't the only thing he's interested in."

Moody cleared his throat before the man could go on, and Olivia had almost forgotten he was there.

"We believe..." Sirius continued, ignoring the man. "Voldemort may be after something."

"Sirius," Mad-Eye warned.

The silence was painful as Olivia and Harry both glanced between the formerly impersonated man and the one that had been in Azkaban for a good portion of his life. "Something he didn't have last time," Sirius went on.

"Don't you..." Clodagh sat up in her seat, her tone stern.

Olivia's brows knitted as she looked at her mother with confusion.

"You mean like a weapon?" Harry asked.

"No." Molly set her knife down harshly. "That's enough." She then began walking towards Sirius, like a mother about to get onto her children. "He's just a boy." She picked up the Daily Prophet from in front of Harry and folded it in her hands. "You say much more, and you might as well induct him into the Order straight away." She then glanced at Olivia, who was already looking up at her. "Both of them," she said, lowering her voice, not as an attempt to hide her words from the girl she spoke of but as a way to make her point clearer.

"Good. I want to join," Harry told them. "If Voldemort's raising an army, then I want to fight."

"As do I," Olivia added, focusing on her mother with an annoyed look. She knew that something was being kept from her, and she hated that. Her mind flashed back to the time she'd heard her parents and Snape whispering about her as they looked into her room back at the manor while they thought she was sleeping. She'd convinced herself that it'd been just a dream, but now she wasn't so sure.

"You need to tell her," Snape hissed in a whisper. "You need to tell her soon before she resents you forever."

"I know, Severus," her mother whispered. "I know."

"Olivia Katherine," her mother warned, leaning forward in her seat. Olivia opened her mouth to speak, but her mother continued before she could. "If you join us, then you'll have to give up the Malfoy boy."

Olivia's mouth snapped shut, and she slumped a little, though she didn't realize she had. What was her mother's issue with Draco? She had such a problem with him, yet she wouldn't tell her why. She'd once thought it had to do with his father and his family's loyalties, but now she didn't know. It seemed her mother had more against Draco himself than his family as a whole. Or, at least, to Olivia, it seemed that way.

The table fell silent, and everyone focused on the girl, but Sirius focused on her mother, raising his brows. "The Malfoy boy?" His tone was filled with curiosity and only a small amount of confusion.

"Yes, your dear cousin, Narcissa's boy. My daughter has grown quite fond of him in recent years," Clodagh explained with disgust in her voice, keeping her eyes trained on Olivia.

Sirius then looked over to Olivia, who was glaring at her mother. "Do you care for him, Olivia?" he asked, quickly catching her attention.

The girl's eyes found him, and she raised her chin. "That is no one's business but my own." She then pushed her seat back from the table, standing now that she no longer had an appetite. Well, it was more that she didn't want to deal with her mother and her obsessive need to control every little thing Olivia did with her life. She turned around, preparing to walk away, when her mother spoke.

"See," Clodagh said with a hint of arrogance in her tone, her eyes finding Sirius as Olivia stopped in her tracks right before she reached the door. She turned her head over her shoulder, listening to what the woman was going to say next. "I told you she'd never give up what was necessary." Her words made her daughter think back to what she'd heard while eavesdropping on the meeting with the others. It's not that I think of my daughter as a child; it's that I don't think, when it comes down to it, she'll give up certain things for the sake of what's right. She's selfish, and she always has been. Clodagh's eyes then found the side of Olivia's face from where the girl was looking over her shoulder. "Olivia, you can't fight on this side and still care for that boy. His father's a Death Eater and will always be. He is no doubt to follow."

Olivia turned around swiftly, facing her mother again as everyone watched her closely. "What makes you so sure Draco won't abstain from his parents' beliefs?" She took a step forward, tossing her hand up, then gestured at the woman she spoke to. "You did." She raised her hand to her father. "Father did." Then she gestured to the man who had defended her earlier in the night. "Sirius did." She huffed out a breath, dropping her hand to her side. "Why do you think Draco won't? Why do you hate him so much?" she questioned, her voice raising with anger, desperately wanting an answer to the questions she'd been asking the woman in front of her for years. "Perhaps if you explain to me your side, then I'll understand. Just tell me what has poisoned you from giving him the smallest chance to be better than the rest of his family."

Olivia felt herself growing angrier with each passing second, and her mother just stared at her, giving her no response. Then the lights began to flicker, much like they'd done those few times before when her emotions were getting the best of her—when she was sorted in her first year and when she'd gone up against Adrian Pucey when he wouldn't get out of her way. Luckily, she'd come a long way since then and knew how to better control her emotions. She inhaled deeply, calming herself and the lights as much as she could.

She waited another second, giving her mother more time to say something, before she tossed up her hands in defeat. "See, no response because you have no answer," she stated, sighing. "You despise him for no reason at all besides the fact of who his parents are," she added, taking a step forward and moving closer to the table again. Everyone continued to stare at her with wide eyes, not daring to interrupt her. "You don't even know him, Mother. I swear to you, he's not the villain you've made up in your head." She paused, straightening her spine from where she leaned over just a tad as she lifted her chin. "I don't know what happened between you and Lucius Malfoy, or perhaps it was with Narcissa; either way, I do not care. He's not his father, nor the rest of his family."

"Do you truly care for him that much?" was all Clodagh asked, finally speaking.

Olivia wanted so badly to tell her mother, "Yes, I do. He actually sees me for who I truly am and not the selfish monster everyone expects me to be," as she thought back to all of the names she'd been called to her face, behind her back, or in print since she'd been born, by strangers, by reporters, or by her own parents, but she didn't. All she said was, "As I said, that's none of your business." She exhaled deeply again, this time through her nose, then took a step back. Her eyes roamed over the others, lingering on her mother for a slight second longer. "I've lost my appetite, so if you'll excuse me..." she told them, lingering in her spot for a moment before she turned to finally walk away.

But her mother's haunting voice echoed in her ears before she could get too far.

"He's going to break your heart."

≀⋆⁺₊⋆ ꗃ 𖦹⨳✺

Later that night, while Olivia was sleeping, her nightmare haunted her just as it did every single night. But this time, it wasn't the nightmare that she'd been used to for so many years. No, this one was more recent. It had started right after she'd gotten home for the summer. But it wasn't just a nightmare; it was a tragic memory. One from that graveyard that she, Harry, and Cedric had been sent to.

"Kill the girl and the spare!"

"No!"

Olivia sat up quickly in her bed, breathing heavily and clutching onto Mr. Snake tightly. But she was only focused on what her mind had been going through for a second before she heard rummaging around near her desk. Her eyes snapped over to the noise, seeing a small, glowing blue light like that from the tip of a wand once the owner cast Lumos. Her gaze narrowed, trying to better make out who this figure was.

And that was when the cloak-like dressing gown and long, wavy hair came into focus as well as they could through the darkness. Olivia practically jumped up in her bed, dumping Mr. Snake in her spot as she climbed to the end of the mattress. "What are you doing!?" she asked her mother loudly. She stopped next to her, seeing the woman holding a stack of unfolded parchment, with more scattered on the desk.

Her letters from Draco...

Her mother gave her a bored look, seeming to not care that she'd just been caught going through her daughter's things, as Olivia looked from the letters on the desk to the ones in the woman's hands, finally meeting her gaze. Olivia snatched the letters from her hands quickly, feeling her privacy extremely invaded. "Those are none of your business!"

"I knew he meant more to you than you were telling me," Clodagh stated, her tone flat.

Olivia scoffed, looking away from the woman as she tossed the letters on the desk with the other ones. "It's none of your concern what he does or does mean to me, Mother!" She took a step forward, her tone full of the same anger as earlier in the night. "You've never cared about me or my wellbeing before, so stop trying to now."

"It's not about me caring about your wellbeing, Olivia!" her mother shouted. "You cannot be a part of the Order and still be around him, care about him, or have any sort of feelings towards him at all! It doesn't work that way!"

"Why?" Olivia threw up her arms, watching as her mother made her way towards her bedroom door, preparing to leave instead of actually explaining anything. "Why does it matter?"

Clodagh whipped around, narrowing her eyes at her daughter. "Because, as I've said repeatedly, daughter, his father's a Death Eater!" She reminded her, and that seemed to be her only explanation for anything to do with her hatred towards Draco. "You saw him in that graveyard with your own two eyes! You saw that his loyalty still lies with Voldemort and him alone when he showed up with no hesitation once called upon and so easily gave up your name when asked!" She let out a breath, lowering her voice. "Do you truly believe Draco won't follow that path?"

"I do," Olivia admitted.

"Then you're more naive than I thought, my dear," Clodagh sighed, digging her fingers into her forehead to relieve the tension before she dropped her hand to her side, "and I hate that I cannot get you to see what is right in front of you and what is to come."

"I hate that you cannot see what's right in front of you, too, Mother," Olivia retorted.

Clodagh didn't say any more. She just turned to exit and was met with her son standing in the doorway of Olivia's bedroom. He was staring at them both with tired eyes, seeming as if he'd been woken up by the shouting. She brushed past him as his eyes followed her every move until she was out of the room. Then Lucas focused back on his sister, whose face was stern as she bit back her tears.

She wasn't sad. She was just tired and so frustrated with herself and her mother.

Olivia chewed on her bottom lip as she stared blankly at the wall in front of her. How did her mother expect her to see what was to come when she wouldn't tell her anything? The pressure of the question weighed down on her until she was about to break. And just before she broke, Lucas knowingly crossed the room and wrapped her in a tight hug, pulling her head to rest against his chest. Olivia's sobs fell from her lips as she wrapped her arms around her brother, holding onto him tightly.

She just wanted to be happy.

Was that too much to ask for?

≀⋆⁺₊⋆ ꗃ 𖦹⨳✺

━━━━ ella's speaking !
the updates are finally back!! i've been trying to write a good bit of act five before i published any of it, and so far i've written almost half of it!

expect more of olivia and the golden trio in the following chapters! i won't get into too much detail, but you can all probably guess why lmao

sirius defending olivia >>

also, you know i had to throw in a little tribute to regulus since most people fancast timothée as him and he's the fc for lucas teehee

i can't believe i have just this act to write and then we're onto the sixth act/sixth year- my plans for the next acts are definitely a rollercoaster of emotions icl

n e ways, i hope you enjoyed!

make sure to comment and vote 🫶🏻

kisses.

━━━━━━━━━━ born to die,
© -LOSTGARDENS, june 2024

word count: 6625. written: 5.24.24. published: 6.24.24.