selenophile || remus lupin

chapter fifty eight

29 December 1996

7:02 pm

"Regulus," Walburga said quietly. Regulus knew immediately to leave, he got up and walked out of the dining room, making eye contact with the floor the entire walk out. Ophelia glanced up at her parents who were staring at her, making no impulsive moves like they often did, instead, they were staring at her, calculating their next moves.

"Ophelia, do you understand what you've just done?" said Orion, as calm as he could, yet a large vein was starting to emerge on his forehead in anger.

"Yes, father."

"I don't think you do, girl. You have just ruined our reputation within the span of ten minutes. You have made a fool out of yourself and outed yourself as a blood traitor to some of the most powerful families in the wizarding world. You have made me and your mother look like we've raised you to be a blood traitor. You have made a fool out of me. Do you understand what the consequences for such behavior might be?"

"Yes father," Ophelia whispered, not removing her eyes from the table.

Orion silently stood up from the dining table and walked over to his daughter. He silently swished his wand across her, removing all beautification enchantments, revealing each scar he has recently given her. He ran the tip of his wand across the one large gash across her right eye, running the span from just above her eyebrow to her cheekbone. He flicked his wand harshly and the scar opened up again. Ophelia felt hot blood trickle down her face, a white hot searing pain coming from the reopened wound. It was lucky to have missed her eye, the curse just nearly missing it and skipping to the next part of her skin.

Ophelia looked up into her father's eyes, a blank stare shining through.

"Walburga, I have a proposition. I say that we use diffindo until there's no more skin left to cut, letting her feel the sting of each slit. Then, we can finish with the cruciatus curse, as many times as it takes for her to get the message."

"I couldn't agree more. Let her feel the pain until she loses consciousness."

It all happened within a matter of minutes. It was all a bit of a blur to Ophelia. Maybe she just wasn't in a stable mind frame, maybe her brain was trying to block it out, but what happened in what felt like hours, yet only about fifteen minutes, Ophelia was nowhere near in the same state as she was to begin with.

She was slumped against one of the walls, both parents towering over her. She had sliced skin covering her body. Larger gashes across her stomach and chest, smaller yet still painful cuts across her arms and legs, climbing up her neck and littered around the crown jewel of scars cutting across her right eye.

Blood was dripping down her, small drops landing on the marble floor here and there. Walburga and Orion had cruel, yet unsatisfied smiles on their faces, letting Ophelia know they were nowhere near finished.

"I know it hurts right now, sweetheart," said Walburga, kneeling down to her eye level. "But soon you'll realize that this is what you deserve. Deep down, you know that you brought this upon yourself. You were asking for this punishment when you chose to speak out upon your own opinions in such high company. You deserve much more, and I think I know just where to start."

Ophelia didn't beg or plead like she once might have. No, instead she just stared up at her mother, with an unfazed, yet defying expression. She looked almost bored, yet completely numb to the world around her.

"Crucio!"

Ophelia felt the awful sensation that she was so accustomed to at this point. She slid further down the wall until she was completely on the floor, squirming around trying anything she could to stop the pain. She screamed out in pain, clawing at her already bleeding skin, only further deepening the cuts. She threw her head back in pain, hitting it harshly against the wall.