Through Her Eyes

Chapter 98

Ophelia created several scenarios regarding the secret of her family and how it could jeopardize her remaining school years. She did take in consideration a number of aspects, such as the personalities of each Gryffindor and their standing against Voldemort. She was aware that some of them will hate her, some will judge her and a very limited number of her friends will accept her for who she is. She thought about it for a long time but now that the moment has arrived, she felt her hands and legs shake in fear.

"What did we just hear...? The Dark Lord's daughter?" Frank asked again, approaching Ophelia slowly. "What's going on? What does he mean?"

Ophelia's eyes widened as she glanced to Sirius for help. The poor boy was even more freaked out than her because he started to ramble about how it was a slip of the tongue.

"You didn't hear me right, Frank. I said-"

"I'm not an idiot, Sirius. None of us is." Alice took her boyfriend's side and the little group of Gryffindors, the ones who have been by Ophelia's side since their first year were now staring at her patiently.

"It's true. I have also found out in recent years. The Molleys were my adoptive parents but now that they are gone, I only have my father. His name is Tom. Tom Marvolo Riddle, and he is the Dark Lord." Ophelia started, feeling like she was about to faint. "I didn't choose him, I didn't choose to be in his family nor did I expect him to seek me out. But he did, from the very beginning, and I don't trust him, I had seen the terrible things that he did, how easy it is for him to kill and-" tears were by now dropping down her cheeks, "I had felt his wrath, I had felt his anger, his greed, his need for power and it's overwhelming. He is overwhelming. But I'm not like him. I don't agree with his ideals, with his conduct, with anything he does. I'm not like him in that sense but he still is my father."

Ophelia was a mess. She was crying really hard and her legs gave out. Luckily, Sirius caught her and caressed her back softly as nobody spoke a word.

"We know. Actually, we figured it out already." Lily said coming to Ophelia's side.

"What..?" Sirius and Ophelia asked looking up at their friends.

"At Grimm's Hollow. Some of us started to think about the person the Death Eaters mentioned. You and Sirius were the only ones who left in such a hurry. And the way James reacted, we understood that the rumours were true and that it might be you." Frank explained with a sympathetic smile.

"We know you're not like him, Ophelia. Even if you obviously are his blood, we know you are different. It's in the way you care for your friends, for the school, that you differentiate from him." Lily explained, tears gathering in her eyes at the state of her friend.

It was a shock mostly because Ophelia had never shown any weakness in front of the other Gryffindors, or at Hogwarts in general. She had a very well-built system of defence and would rarely lose her calm so for Lily and the rest, it was nice to see Ophelia's human side.

"So, you don't hate me?" Ophelia asked in a meek voice.

"No. At least not without a clear reason. You said it yourself, it's not like you can choose your family." Alice added as she came next to Lily. "But I'm not so sure about the others. If the whole school starts believing the rumours then..."

"It's alright. You don't need the rest of the school, Molley. You just need us." Sirius said, feeling a lot better now that things worked out in their favour.

When James Potter entered the common room, his eyes met the odd sight of Lily, hugging Ophelia on the ground while Alice, Frank, and Sirius were just standing there. Well, Sirius looked ready to push Lily off.