Ophiuchus Black scoffed, looking at him with the same amount of distaste she held when Fernley challenged her to skull a cup of dirty dishwater. She looked him up and down before spitting out at him. "Try again tomorrow, bucko."
"I mean technically...
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CHAPTER 5; NO PLACE LIKE HOME - "If you give me just one night to meet you underneath the moonlight" - New Light John Mayer -
Ever since Sirius had left last Christmas, she couldn't help but notice just how empty the house felt. It was quiet now. It was never quiet when Sirius was there. Their parents would always be screaming at him and because he was a Gryffindor, he would be screaming back. As much as Ophiuchus hated the fights, she hated the quietness that lingered over the house now.
Before there was screaming, there was laughter. The three Black siblings used to enjoy each others company and to think they would enjoy each others company now was ludicrous.
Their household was only a 20 minute walk from Kings Cross so her parents now trusted her and Reg to make it home alone safely. The two made small talk and the occasional joke as they lugged their trunks behind them. However, when they stood on the street in front of 11 and 13 Grimmauld Place, the talking ceased. Silently they watched as their home was revealed before making their way inside.
"Regulus, Ophiuchus, glad to see you home so quickly." Their mother appeared in the hallway in front of them. Her greying hair was pulled into a tight bun, it made her pinched nose appear more upturned than it already was. "Kreacher will take your things to your rooms. Dinner is ready."
Walburga's heels clicked along as she walked away from them. Both kids were surprised she'd even said more than two words as a welcoming. It was different from the surprised look she had every time either walked into a room, almost as if she forgot they existed.
Ophiuchus and Regulus followed her into the houses dining room. All the best family silverware was on the table and sitting in the seats, were all the most prized members of the black family.
Their cousins Narcissa and Bellatrix had a seat, Narcissa's boyfriend Lucius taking up a place next to her. Ophiuchus's aunt and uncle were across the table from her cousins, her father at the head and her mother to his side. There were three seats left at the end. Everyone knew who it was for and everyone knew it would never be filled again.
She now understood why her mother was acting particularly warm to her children when they arrived. It was all for show. Ophiuchus took a seat across from Narcissa and Regulus took the one beside the older cousin. Politely and quietly, Ophiuchus answered all their questions about school and other irrelevant subjects that made her want to stab her eye out.
She found herself having to force put fake laughs when her family joked about the worthlessness of muggles and the impurities of mudbloods. It wasn't that she didn't agree, she found that she really couldn't care at all about the lesser beings. She thought that all they were really doing was giving them more power by continuing to bring them up. Ophiuchus disliked them as much as the next pureblood but she couldn't see the point of always talking about them because all it did was make everyone angry.
