One Year Done

The Scavenger Hunt ended up with a lot of ruckus and not all of it was because of the competition. It seemed that a few eggs have been tempered with and even more have exploded when given the right answers. In the end, the house with the most points was-

"Hufflepuff." Potter started at breakfast the following Saturday, "Hufflepuff found the most silver eggs for the fifth and seventh years. So, even if Ravenclaws had the most points for the third and fourth years and Slytherin for the second and first, they won. And even worse, Gryffindor didn't win anything at all. Anything!" He exclaimed, offended, drawing the attention of the whole table.

"Please, calm down. I'm ashamed enough as it is." Charlie mumbled. He was exhausted after he did all those schemes in order to win points.

"I bet he feels the worst. After the work and time he spent on plans, it ended up disastrous." Lily whispered to the girls, throwing quick glances at the fourth year Gryffindor.

"Well, at least it was fun. It prepared us for the upcoming exams." Alice added, smiling encouragingly at her friends,

"Everyone will pass with flying colors now."

"I doubt it," Cissney coughed, trying not to make it obvious who she was referring to.

"Anyway, looking back this year has been the greatest time of my life. I can't help but look forward to the next and next." Alice changed the subject quickly, before Pettigrew could realize Cissney was very much referring to him.

Everyone agreed and even toasted for that, making weird comments from the side but not Ophelia. She was happy with the friends she made but at the same time, there was something bugging her.

Later that day, she was called outside the common room for a quick chat. It wasn't a surprise when she met Severus in front of the Fat Lady. He grabbed her arm and pulled her aside with a frown on his face.

"We have a problem. An immense problem," He whispered.

"Does it concern the Scavenger Hunt?" She asked, her mind going back to the time she dueled Nott.

Severus looked confused before he shrugged that idea away.

"It concerns Malfoy,"

As soon as Severus spelled that name, Ophelia knew it was trouble. She could understand the constant frown on his face and the reason he looked even paler than usually. There were traces of sweat on his forehead and his eyes were shining with fear.

"Something happened. The stone that we gave him was supposed to work with whatever his father was supposed to make. It didn't because the stone was not the right one. It wasn't the philosopher stone but a copy of it, very well made too." Severus explained slowly for her to understand how bad it was.

Ophelia understood well just what kind of troublesome matter that was but couldn't understand one tiny detail.

"We found it in the spot he told us about. How could it not be right?" She asked.

"I know. You took it from the trunk but maybe something happened when the dementor appeared."

That was one way of putting it. Ophelia's eyes darkened as she remembered how she got in the possession of the stone.

"I didn't." She started, her eyebrows furrowing in confusion, "I didn't take it out. Before I fell unconscious, someone put it in my hand. Someone small and quick handed." Ophelia explained, looking down at her hands.

Severus Snape was scared. For some reason, all the happy memories left him and he started to remember the days he spent at home, the days of pain and loneliness from before he found Lily and before he came to Hogwarts. No, he wasn't going to that dark corner again.

While Snape was terrified of what Malfoy could do to his future in school, Ophelia looked to the side thoughtfully. There was a small person that gave her a stone, they already encountered the dementor and Dumbledore knew of their little adventure.

"Is it possible we didn't even take it? Is it still there?" She asked still thinking hard about it.

Snape's eyes widened as he realized she might as well be right.

"That means we can take it and give it to Malfoy and everything will be alright."

They nodded to each other and agreed to try again that night.

They found the trunk faster than before, mostly because it was summer and the forest has already been covered by older students during the Hunt. The tree was even easier to spot with the moonlight shining over them. There was one small problem.

"It's not here. How can it not be here?" Snape asked, searching the trunk for a secret compartment except the obvious one. Nothing.

The brunette turned towards the castle with Dumbledore's face in mind. The headmaster was one strange wizard if he took it. But how could she know for sure? Anyone could have taken it during the Hunt by coincidence or maybe Spinnard took it that night.

"We need to find that stone or our lives will be a lot worse." Snape hissed, blaming himself for being so stupid.

That was everything Snape did for the rest of the year. Exams were taking most of the days but he couldn't think of anything else. The dark haired boy was worried every time he'd go into and out of the common room or during dinner.

Ophelia was just across the room and he was sure she wasn't feeling even half of his pain. She wasn't a Slytherin but he was and inside the common room, anything could happen.

That was how on the last Friday, right after their last exam in Potions, Rodolphus Lestrange came to the first year with Malfoy on his tail. Quickly than he could blink, Rodolphus had Snape hung upside down in the air.

"Have you heard, Lucius? First years these days have a tendency to go against their elders. This one in particular has kept the treasure for himself instead of giving forward." Rodolphus started. He had the same high class expression as Malfoy but even in his position, Snape could see that Malfoy was not on the same pedestal as Lestrange.

"I gave you the stone that we found. It's not my fault that it isn't the right one." He tried to be brave but Lestrange's eyes glistened wickedly, scaring him shitless.

"Are you sure, Severus? Your life can take a sudden turn if you lie to me. That stone is very important."

Severus nodded before he looked at the Prefect for help. The blond seemed to be thinking of another way to solve the problem.

"The girl found the stone, didn't she? The Gryffindor. Does she have it?"

Severus shook his head quickly, having a quick idea what Lestrange would do to her.

"Are you sure? She might have given you the wrong stone for all you can know."

Well, that was true. She did see it as a game in the beginning and she did find the trunk first but how could she? Ophelia was not interested in these kinds of affairs; she was a loner most of the time.

"Silence is an answer, Severus." Lestrange hissed before he walked away. Snape fell on his face loudly before he remembered where Lestrange was going.

"Why are you even thinking of protecting that girl? She's not worth your time. You should change your priorities if you want to survive."

Snape almost forgot that Malfoy was still there until he heard him. The blond was looking down at the first year with genuine worry, mainly because he was a Prefect and Severus was part of the Slytherin house.

"You should learn that loyalty to your house means far more than a petty friendship."

Those words could be taken in two different ways and Snape understood both. He was a smart child and nodded, admitting to himself that being around Ophelia was doing him more harm than good. Yet, he couldn't help it. While he liked to be close to Lily because she was so genuine and so bright, Ophelia was this mysterious creature that was drawing him in.

"What are you doing, Molley?" A confused professor McGonagall asked the girl standing still in front of a gargoyle.

"His office is behind the gargoyle, isn't it? I would like to talk to him about something but I don't know the password." She answered while looking up at her professor with wide innocent eyes.

McGonagall sighed, having no interest in the reason yet still being wary.

"Butterbeer" She said with the gargoyle moving to the side.

"Thank you," Ophelia mumbled, entering with the professor following closely.

As soon as the door to his office opened, McGonagall entered first and informed the headmaster of the prize that Hufflepuffs were supposed to receive. It was unfortunate that her own house failed in every year but it seemed they didn't lose anything more than the House Cup.

"Ophelia?"

Hearing Dumbledore's soft voice instantly woke her up from her eerie. His blue eyes were glistening from under his spectacles with amusement.

"I- well- there was-"

There was no easy and innocent way of asking him the truth. She had to sound rude and maybe a bit foolish but the curiosity was eating her away.

"You knew about the stone, didn't you sir? You knew all along that Malfoy asked Severus to bring it to him and you took it. The trunk is empty."

Dumbledore raised an eyebrow but didn't say anything yet.

"Was it you who gave me the fake stone? You placed it in my hand right before I fainted in the forest. It was either you or Professor Spinnard." She continued.

"Neither I nor Professor Spinnard are small enough to do it. Such small creatures are very quick."

"Then who was it? And why did this creature give it to me if it's fake?"

"Have you wondered, Ophelia, what this stone means?" He asked. The girl didn't move or speak so Dumbledore continued, "Most commonly, the philosopher stone is known to transform metal into gold. But, in the hands of someone with grand imagination, it can be used to create the Elixir of Life."

Ophelia's eyes widened at the information but soon got back to normal, rising curiosities in Dumbledore. The girl was registering information very fast and she was sure to express few emotions in order to keep herself guarded.

"Is that why Malfoy wanted it?"

Dumbledore chuckled before throwing her a look of coy.

"It doesn't matter because he doesn't have it. It would be better for the stone to remain where it is now."

"Then where is it? Do you have it, sir?"

Dumbledore smiled widely at his student.

"No. I'm afraid I don't. But that is not the question is it? The stone should either remain hidden or it should be given back to its rightful possessor, Nicolas Flamel."

Ophelia nodded and walked out. It was strange how he gave her the name of the possessor but not a real answer to her question. Feeling like she should just drop the subject altogether, she walked back to the common room.

Remembering everything that happened in the last year, Ophelia smiled. The lectures were nice even if she couldn't understand all of them, the house she was sorted in was far better than she imagined and she had friends. It didn't even matter that she got bullied for a while or that she might have failed Potions because now, she finally had a reason to look forward to every year.

She started to skip happily, assured that no one could see her. Exams were over and most students were excited to go home for the summer. Ophelia wasn't excited but she wanted to tell her parents everything she experienced at Hogwarts. She was convinced that her mother would believe her but her father was a police officer; he was going to question her under the dim lit neon in the kitchen.

But it didn't matter. What mattered was that she will return to Hogwarts in September and then next September and next for 6 more years.

As she turned the corner towards the corridor to the Fat Lady, Ophelia stopped and stumbled to the side. She might have been a bit too happy because she became dizzy.

[Flashback]

"Go back inside, Ophelia! This man-this man-"

"Forget the man you saw today. Forget everything and look forward to a better life. You have to trust me, alright?"

"Kill the woman and bring me her child."

"The man from my memories and the man you hold so close to your heart, they'r one and the same."

"My skills cannot aid you anymore, Tom."

Tom. Who was that Tom and what skills did he have for Luce Spinnard to admire him?

"The man from my memories and the man you hold so close to your heart, they're one and the same. That's what he said but-"

Ophelia cringed when a sudden wave of energy entered her mind and made her lose her balance.

Lies! They're all lies!

"Tom! Tom, look what I did!" A very happy ginger ran to her cousin with a wide smile on her face, "Look!"

The ginger moved her hands in the air until little sparks came out of her fingers, following her movements. They started to connect to each other and create forms swaying in the air. Then everything darkened and the sparks transformed into fire.

"You have no right to interfere in our family affairs." A very angry Tom spoke. Across him was another man and he had his arm wrapped tightly around the ginger woman from before.

"You're insane! Is this what you call a family? Locking her up and threatening her life? What about her child! You're risking the life of an unborn child!"

"That child is mine. No matter how much you will lie to yourself, Peverell, that child is mine." Tom hissed yet it was obvious he was pleased with what he said and Peverell's expression.

Green light engulfed them all and pushed Ophelia back.

[End of Flashback]

She opened her eyes widely only to find herself in the corridor, not a soul nearby. She could still feel the anger in Tom and how betrayed he felt. There was another man, one that looked extremely familiar but she didn't know where she saw him before.

But Tom. Ophelia knew exactly where she had seen him before.

"The man from my memories and the man you hold so close to your heart, they're one and the same." She whispered, finally making sense, "Tom."

----------------------------------------------------

Ophelia ended up not telling a soul of what happened and if possible, she wanted to keep the secret until next year or forever, both worked for her. But she couldn't shrug Tom off; he looked pretty much like a younger version of the man she had met.

The ride back home was event-less, as much as it could be with Potter and Black moaning about being separated for three whole months.

"I'll miss you!"

"I'll miss you more!"

"I'll miss you more than I'll miss my bed!"

"I'll miss you more than I'll miss the Quidditch grounds!"

"I'll miss you more than I'll miss seeing McGonagall get mad at Longbottom for breaking her favorite mug!"

"I'll miss you more than I'll miss seeing Molley hang upside down in the air during Transfiguration!" Potter screamed it out for the whole train to hear.

"I'll-mm!" Black's eyes widened when his mouth zipped shut. "Mmmm mmm!" He screamed, turning to glare at the person that shut him up so rudely.

Potter was laughing when his mouth zipped shut as well and his amusement vanished.

Cissney Littlewood was standing in the door, a scowl on her face as she started to speak,

"We got it. You'll miss each other. The world will end for three months because you'll be separated. Now, some silence please." She said and spun around, going back into her compartment.

"Finally, they shut up. I can't understand how you can spend so much time with them," Severus mumbled angrily, spitting the last word with so much disgust.

"They're not that bad. Sometimes, they brighten up the mood without realizing. During the exams, they made us laugh and relax." Lily said softly, smiling at the memory.

Severus's eyes narrowed immediately and folded his arms in front of his chest, mumbling something to himself. Ophelia chuckled under her hand, content that the year ended just as it began.