Through Her Eyes

Chapter 114

Spinnard was standing there, not moving an inch, but he couldn't hide his surprise. He didn't know how to react, so he chose to stay as if he was petrified. Ophelia chuckled and let him go, delighted with having finally disposed of that guilty emotion she had for causing his death.

"You speak as if you hate everything about me but you don't," she started.

"You're lying to yourself, then," he scoffed, looking displeased.

"Am I? Recently, I have discovered that some of my early memories have been altered. I wasn't attacked by a dementor in Scotland, I was taken by my father. Interestingly enough, you were there as well," Ophelia started, watching his cold eyes soften and his usually rigid form become mellow. "You asked him to let me go, to let me come to school and learn and live a normal life. You assured him that you will keep an eye on me, so why do you act like you have no idea why I am here? At this point in time, I have no recollection of your discussion with Tom, I barely know you."

"That's the point. The less you know, the happier you are." he finally gave an honest answer. "What good brought knowing your father in the future? Has your life improved? I don't think so,"

"You're right. If anything, my life has become emptier and I have a hard time controlling my emotions and even my magic. But I had to discover him by myself. You cannot just block him from me and expect a child not to be curious. You could have told me a little about him, about what he did to my mother and to you,"

"I did, I always made it obvious,"

"No, you only made me hate you, not Tom and that led me right into his arms."

"I'm not going to change how I act just because you felt mistreated," he said with a glare.

"I don't want you to. It is also your behavior that, eventually, creates a drift in my relationship with Tom. It's you who makes me stronger. Isn't that funny? I owe you everything I own and who I have become. I also owe you my friendships and allies. But I need to know more, I need to know what happened back then, what were his plans, and why everyone helps me because of Peverell,"

Spinnard sighed and sat on his bed. He looked at Ophelia and for the first time, he actually looked like a normal man.

"Were you there when Dumbledore came for me after my mother died?" she asked but he shook his head, "Were you there when he took me to the orphanage?"

"I was the one who arranged your move to the orphanage. Dumbledore insisted that I should wait there since I would only have scared you, and he was right. I was also the one who buried Lillian. She's in a cemetery in Aberdeen, near Vernon's house,"

Ophelia blinked, unable to do anything since this was information she never expected to get.

"Did you hate her?"

"I pitied her. I was the one who destroyed her life by taking her as a fetus straight into Tom's hands. She knew nothing about the world, just what he taught her. She didn't even know they were cousins, she just loved him because he was everything to her. I convinced Tom to allow her to come to school because her magic was growing hard to manage and that's how she started her third year at Hogwarts. McGonagall took a liking to her from the beginning and Lillian grew to look at her like a mother. Peverell was my only friend and out of guilt, I asked him to return to school and take care of Lillian. That idiot fell in love with her," he explained rubbing his forehead. "Each summer break, Lillian grew further and further away from Tom but she still loved him. I don't know if she truly loved him or if it was all just manipulation, but in her last year, she suddenly visited McGonagall and told her about her pregnancy."

"Why did he want a child?"

"He didn't. You were a mistake that he didn't take into account," Spinnard said, glancing at her in order to see her reaction. "You don't look surprised, I guess he told you what his plans are. Around the time you were born, he took an interest in the immortality stone. He searched for it but couldn't find it, so he returned to his original plan,"