Trigger Warning - Description of Panic Attack

Ophelia didn't hear the rest because she had closed the door. She wasn't sure what she was doing or where she was heading, her feet were just moving in a direction unknown to her. Her head pounded. Her chest clenched uncontrollably. She felt fresh air hit her face but she kept walking. Then her knees gave way. This was it. She'd finally cracked. All of this work up until now was for nothing. Why couldn't she stay strong for once in her life. A failure. That's what she was.

Lost in her thoughts she was unaware of the large figure approaching.

"Ophelia? Oh no. Come 'ere."

The figure scooped Ophelia into his arms and carried her towards his hut, knowing that this would be the quickest place to get her to some sort of safety. In his large arms the girl shook uncontrollably but to his shock no tears were being shed. Instead it was like her mind and soul had deserted her body, leaving behind a broken shell.

Once he had reached the garden, he placed Ophelia on a bench that overlooked his pumpkin patch and called for his dog. The large dog bounded out the front door and quickly noticed the distressed student on the bench. Without a hesitation, it leaped up beside her and nuzzled his head under an arm. Almost instantly Ophelia's  breathing became a little less rushed and some senses seem to awaken as she slowly brushed the dogs head.

"F-fang?" The dog lifted his head up and gave a quick lick to the face. "W-what are you doing here? Wait, where am I?" Ophelia forced herself to try and move but wasn't able to.

"Ophelia, you're with me."

"H-Hagrid? What happened?" Ophelia turned to see Hagrid sat on a large tree stump opposite her.

"Aven't the foggiest, found you on the floor, we were closer to me hut so carried you here then flooed a message to Poppy whilst Fang 'ere kept you company."

"Oh. Thank you."

"Where is she?" A lady came ushering down the steps.

"'Ere." Hagrid stepped his large body aside which revealed Ophelia still curled into the bench.

"Oh dear, here drink this." She pulled a bottle from one of her pockets and handed it to Ophelia. "It's a calming potion."

"N-no its ok, I'm fine now." Ophelia said, trying to convince herself more than anything. Standing up she soon felt her knees sway and fall back on to the bench.

"You've exhausted yourself. Hagrid can you inform Minerva for me."

"NO! Please don't tell her, I'm ok I promise. Please don't."

"Miss McGonagall I have no choice, you need her."

"But she doesn't need me to make her life hard." Ophelia could feel some tears brimming in her eyes but was trying her hardest to push them back down.

"Hagrid go." Madam Pomfrey took a step towards Ophelia who shrunk back into the bench. "Miss McGonagall I assure you I am not going to hurt you, I merely just want to sit next to you. We can sit in silence if you like, just let me stay." Ophelia nodded and the lady took a seat next to her. "Will you drink this potion for me?" Ophelia shook her head, it seemed she had resorted to silence. Something that even Ophelia wasn't sure of the reason why. "Ok, that's ok." A few minutes passed and a familiar clicking noise broke Ophelia from her trance.

"Oh Ophelia." Ophelia looked up and saw Minnie rushing towards her and before Ophelia managed to say anything she was engulfed in a hug. That was enough to break the wall containing the tears and they flooded out. These were the first tears the lady had seen leave Ophelia's eyes since they met; it was heartbreaking.

"I-I'm s-s-so sorry." Ophelia spoke through gasps of air whilst clinging on to the lady.

"Don't you apologise." Minnie looked over to her colleague and mouthed "sleeping draught". Madam Pomfrey nodded and rummaged through her pockets and pulled out a purple vial. "Ophelia dear, please drink this, I will stay with you." Minnie pulled away from the hug and looked Ophelia deep in the eyes, "I promise." That was all Ophelia needed to hear so she drunk the potion before leaning back in for a hug, thirty seconds later Ophelia was fast asleep. "Thank you Poppy."

"Just doing my job Minerva. She will be ok." Poppy looked at Minnie with a warm smile, the love this lady had for the girl was beyond anything she had ever seen from her.

"I know she will, she just needs to know that herself. Thank you for helping her Hagrid."

"Notta problem Minerva. Onestly didn't do much meself, Fang was the one to calm 'er".

"She does have a huge love towards creatures." Minnie looked down and smiled at the girl who finally looked at peace in her sleep. "Hagrid would you mind carrying her to my chambers for me, most students are in lessons so we should go unnoticed."

"Course I can." The man walked over to the pair and reached down to pick Ophelia up. "Come on Fang, you come with us." Hagrid began to walk up the hill leaving the two women walking at slower pace behind.

"I fear I failed her already Poppy. I didn't notice she was struggling again until recently." Minnie confided.

"Clearly she is very skilled at hiding it, you did nothing wrong. Your love for her is clear and that shines back from the trust she has in you too. This was just a momentary blip."

"She's like the daughter I was never able to have." Poppy smiled, that was enough of a response as she could sense this wasn't an easy conversation.

"I must be off now Minerva, but I will come visit you both later." She grasped onto the lady's hand and gave it a quick squeeze before they both parted ways. As much as today had been a hard one, there was a positive to be found in it all. Minnie had realised how much this girl meant to her and although Ophelia had broke down it proved she was willing to start accepting more help. October was definitely the month of change, a change for the better.

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Apple Crumble. Her favourite thing in the world. That was the first thing Ophelia smelt when she began to wake up. Opening her eyes that demanded to stay shut, she spotted the apple crumble on the coffee table near her.

"I thought that might wake you, how are you feeling dear?" Ophelia looked to her right and sat at a mahogany desk was Minnie.

"Tired. Really tired." Ophelia's belly growled. "Hungry supposedly too."

Minnie stood and walked over, grabbing the apple crumble at the same time. "Please try and eat something." She asked Ophelia, placing the bowl on the arm of the sofa. Ophelia couldn't shake the nauseous feeling she had but she couldn't deny she was hungry either. So slowly she ate the apple crumble, by the time she had finished it was stone cold but she felt better.

"What happened?"

"You had a bad panic attack, we shall not dwell on it though. We need to focus on the present and future but first," Minnie took the empty bowl from Ophelia's hands to place on the table before taking a seat on the sofa beside Ophelia. "First you must have a hug." She wrapped the girls in her arms. "You are a silly girl you know that, don't ever think you will cause me problems. I care for you very much and just want to see you succeed. Do you understand?"

"Yes, but I thought we weren't mentioning the past?" Ophelia remarked with a smug look on her face.

"Well I'm glad you're feeling chirpy enough for sarcasm." Minnie chuckled. "Shall we just 'chill' for the rest of this evening, I think that's what you kids call it." This resulted in Ophelia snorting.

"Not everybody calls it chill, I just call it relaxing but yeh," Ophelia tucked her legs under and rested her head on Minnie's shoulders "chilling sounds good." Both of them summoned a book and sat reading for a few minutes before Ophelia suddenly shot up remembering something. "I have a bone to pick with you!"

"You're going to pick bones? Heavens what does that mean?" Minnie stared at her with her glasses resting on the end of her nose shooting a very concerned glare at Ophelia.

"Sorry its a muggle phrase," Ophelia chuckled at the face in front of her, "oh my gosh your face, I'm sorry. Anyway it basically means I want to talk to you about something you did that annoyed me."

"I have a feeling I know where this is going." Minnie smirked back.

"Oh yes Minnie I see that sly smile, putting James next to me very clever of you."

"James, I thought it was always Potter?"

"Hm well, your sneaky plan worked. We spoke and got on rather ok."

"I saw. I must say your transfiguration was excellent too."

"Learnt from the best."

"Who was that may I ask?"

"Oh, Professor Dumbledore." Minnie's face turned to shock which once again caused Ophelia to laugh. She hadn't realised how tense she had been since arriving at Hogwarts, this 'chill' session was just what she needed. "I'm joking, it was you."

"Well thank you dear." A comfortable silence followed whilst they both read, the fire crackling in the background. An hour passed and Ophelia let a yawn escape her mouth.

"Gosh I'm so tired, what time is it?"

"10pm. I'm not surprised you're tired, you had an exhausting day. The sleep potion only helped you get so much sleep."

"Oh that's what you gave me. Thank you though, I'm not annoyed, you did the best" Ophelia let out an even larger yawn this time before continuing "thing possible."

"You need sleep, you can stay in my spare room tonight, you will drink a dreamless potion and get a full nights rest." Minnie had gotten up already and moved to a cupboard in the room. She pulled out the potion bottle and tipped some into a glass, then summoned some pyjamas that flew from her bedroom. "Here are some of your pyjamas, I kept some in case you stayed here and drink this now so I know you will sleep well." Ophelia took the potion and swallowed it in one go, the taste was bitter but it warmed her throat and a calming feeling passed through her body.

"Night Minnie, thank you for today and everything." She gave the lady a hug and placed a kiss on her cheek. "Love you Minnie." A huge smile filled the older ladies face and warm tears began to fill her eyes.

"I love you too Ophelia."

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Saturday morning came and Ophelia woke feeling refreshed when a light knock on her bedroom stirred her.

"Morning Ophelia, are you feeling ok to come to breakfast in the hall?" Minnie had just walked into the room, clothes hanging over her arm.

"Yeh I think so." Ophelia sat up and eyed the clothing. "Did you pick them?"

"Golly no, I saw Miss Evans in the hall and asked her to fetch you some clothes."

"She picked well. Wait! You saw her in the hall? What time is it now then?"

"8am, you were still fast asleep at 6."

"Oh gosh, I need to get ready then." Ophelia jumped up and grabbed the clothes from Minnie.

"She also gave me a bag filled with your makeup its on the coffee table." Minnie spoke to Ophelia who was walking out of the room.

"Thank you Minnie, oh and morning!" Ophelia yelled back.

Thirty minutes later Ophelia was heading down to the Great Hall with Minnie, the closer they got the more anxiety she felt bubble in her stomach.

"You're ok dear, they just thing you had a nasty stomach bug." Minnie squeezed Ophelia's shoulder quickly once they had reached the last corridor.

"Thank you for telling them that." Ophelia smiled as they reached the Great Hall.

"You go first dear, I'll be right behind you." Minnie ushered Ophelia in front who took a deep breath before walking through the open doors. After a few steps through the hall Ophelia heard a squeal and the next thing she saw was Marlene crashing into her.

"Oh my god I missed you." Marlene had picked Ophelia up and squeezed her.

"Marls it was one night." Ophelia looked at the girl and chuckled.

"It was long enough come on." Marlene yanked Ophelia's arm and dragged her to the table.

"Hey Ophelia! How are you feeling?" Lily asked with her usual cheery voice.

"Much better thank you, a bit queasy but better." Ophelia scanned the table in front of her and saw Remus looking at her. "Morning Remus, how are you feeling?" Ophelia gave a gentle smile to the boy, she couldn't help but notice how tired he looked but also noticed a scar she certainly hadn't seen before down his neck.

"Bit better thank you." He smiled back, rather tiredly though.

"Ophelia!!" Ophelia spun round to see James walking towards through the hall before wrapping his arms around her neck. "How's my new bestie?"

"Bestie? Pushing it a bit far there James." Ophelia shook him off but couldn't help but smile as James squeezed himself between her and Lily.

"Are you feeling better? You looked horrid when you walked out of Transfiguration?"

"So polite James, but yes I am thank you."

"Good." James gave a genuine smile before looking at Remus who was staring at the two in shock. "You ok there Rem?"

"Ugh," Remus coughed, "yeh fine just confused with this." He pointed his fork at Ophelia then James. "This is new."

"Oh well you see whilst you were sleeping through school, I became besties with Ophelia." James nudged Ophelia's arm causing her to shudder slightly, something she thought she masked well but Remus had silently spotted.

"Like I said bestie is pushing it." Ophelia chuckled back, acting as if everything was fine.

"Well anyway it was just a fly in visit, I've come to stock up on croissants because Sirius and I are planning a mega prank so see ya later." James pulled a scrunched up bag out of his pocket then tipped in an entire tray of croissants before skipping back out of the hall. Marlene and Alice left soon after leaving just Peter, Remus, Ophelia and Lily behind. Lily was attempting to talk to Peter so Remus took this opportunity to speak to Ophelia.

"I heard you weren't well yesterday too, are you ok now?"

"Yeh, yeh I am thank you." Ophelia smiled and instantly found herself looking into his kind eyes. "Ooh that reminds me I have your notes from Potions." Ophelia reached beneath the table for her bag and rummaged for the paper, hitting a familiar bottle whilst doing so. "Here you go, it was a lesson on Pepperup." She passed the paperwork over, now feeling unsure whether it was right too give him the potion.

"Thanks Ophelia, you don't realise how much this means to me." Remus gazed at the girl, he noticed her eyes weren't as cheery as normal which for some reason left an unsettled feeling in his stomach.

"You're welcome, it was no problem. Actually, this may seem weird but," Ophelia was rummaging around her bag again leaving Remus slightly worried as to what she was doing, "I got you this." She passed him the vial of potion. "It's some of Slughorn's Pepperup, I was going to give you it last night in hope it would help you but obviously I got a bit sidetracked." Remus was speechless, this girl had known him for such little time and yet was treating him was such kindness. But he couldn't help worrying whether Ophelia would still feel the same if she knew the real reason he was poorly.

"Thank you, that's not weird at all, it really thoughtful. I might take it today to help me through." Remus watched as Ophelia's shoulders relaxed and a smile grew on her face. "Would you be up for a study session together at some point? Totally understand if not." Remus scratched his head, he couldn't explain why he felt so nervous, he studied with girls like Lily all the time. Why was this any different.

"Yeh that would be amazing actually, you can help me with D.A.D.A you're amazing in that."

"Great!" Remus said rather too excitedly gaining a glance from Peter. "When would you-"

Their conversation was interrupted by a beautiful owl gliding between them and landing in front of Ophelia. It was Virginia.

"Oh hey beautiful." Ophelia gave the owl a kiss on top of its head, leaving Remus speechless for the second time this morning. He had never seen someone interact with an owl so lovingly before. The owl nuzzled Ophelia's neck in return. "I missed you too, sorry I haven't seen you much this week." Ophelia often went up to visit Virginia, sometimes simply for a cuddle, well more Virginia perching on Ophelia's shoulder whilst she read. Virginia lifted her foot up and Ophelia noticed a letter attached. "Oooh a letter, thank you." Ophelia leant over the table and grabbed a slice of apple. "Here you go, see you soon." The bird seemed to understand this and took the apple before swooping back out of the hall. Opening the letter, she couldn't help but smile at who it was from and what they said. It was safe to say Ophelia was very excited for this afternoon.

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Ok ok ok I'm so excited by Minnie & Ophelia's relationship!! Like OMG!!!
QOTC - If you could meet one creature from the Harry Potter universe what would it be?
My Answer - A Phoenix!! I just love Fawkes so much and just the concept of them being reborn! I'd say a thestral would be a close second!