Trigger Warning - Mentions of abuse & flashbacks. Starts right after the eye closing gif (the words change to italics too). It does end after the Ben Barnes gif! If you don't feel able to read this please don't force yourself. Instead message me and I will happily explain what happened in brief so you don't feel like you've missed anything important.

Ophelia ran as fast as she could, but she was completely lost. Pushing open the door to a classroom she shut it behind her and hid behind where the door would open. Seconds later the door flung open.

"Wait where did she go?" James asked looking genuinely confused by the situation. This just made Ophelia laugh revealing her hiding spot.

"I'm sorry, its just too funny." Ophelia laughed harder at their pink and glitter covered faces.

"As much as I am pissed you did good McGonagall." James sighed.

"He's right, how did you do it." Sirius leant back against the wall with his arms crossed.

"I won't tell you all my secrets, but I used some muggle pranks."

"Interesting." Sirius rubbed his chin, acting like he was thoroughly interested. "But how did you get in our room."

"Oh, I knew what would distract you all."

"Yeh, what was mine then?" James crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow at this statement mockingly.

"Easy, make you think Lily wanted to spend time with you." Ophelia winked and Sirius scoffed.

"You little shit." James joked, raising his arm to give Ophelia a playful smack on the back. But instinctively Ophelia covered her body with her small arms and clenched her eyes shut. When she reopened them, she was no longer at Hogwarts.

"You little shit." A large middle aged man grabbed onto Ophelia's wrist, yanking her forward until she toppled over the mattress on the floor. "Do you realise how pathetic you made us look after that interview slip up." Spit showered over Ophelia, she turned away to try and mask her paling face.

"You will look at us when you're addressed." A female voice spoke with a sickening sweetness undertone. "Do you hear me?" There it was, the sharp, shrill, not so subtle, threatening voice.

"S-sorry, it was a mistake, I didn't mean to address you as Mr Montgomery in the interview." Ophelia spoke with a voice that attempted to stay stutter free. It didn't matter, a foot made an imprint on her stomach before she had chance to breathe.

"Did you think we would fall for that excuse?"  A second stomp.

"Look at us you ungrateful bitch." A hand met Ophelia's face, with a ring leaving a small gash on her cheek. Marks on the face were rare, they were much harder to hide so Mr and Mrs Montgomery usually kept their abuse away from there. A slap to the face was enough to tell Ophelia she had really upset the pair.

"Sorry ma'am." Ma'am, that was how she addressed her adoptive mother, or it would be by Mrs Montgomery. Ophelia tried to keep her eyes on the lady, she knew if she turned away another kick would be given. But the nausea filling her body from the last kick to the stomach was overtaking, and she closed her eyes for one second to try and push it back but that moment of weakness was too long. A third stomp.

A fourth stomp.

A fifth stomp.

Then the door opened and closed and Ophelia was left alone again, closing her eyes she succumbed to sleep on the cold floor that she called her bed.

"What did I do?" James and Sirius stood back as they watched Ophelia sink down the wall.

"I think I know." Sirius mumbled, eyes fixed on the normally bubbly girl in front of them.

"Shall I go get Minnie?" James scratched the back of his neck, he wasn't sure what to do in the slightest.

"No, I don't think she'd want that." Sirius walked towards the wall and slid down besides Ophelia slowly. "Go to first lesson, make up some reason why Ophelia and I aren't there. Just don't get people looking for her, I think she just needs some time."

"What about you?"

"I'll wait with her." James nodded and looked back to the girl who was staring blankly at nothing in particular. With one last look of reassurance from Sirius, James headed out of the old classroom.

"Sorry ma'am." A small, panicked, voice left Ophelia's mouth. Sirius watched the girl for a second, her eyes were wide open but they weren't reacting. It was like they were still closed. Every so often she would flinch like someone had just hit her.

"Ophelia. Can you hear me?" Sirius asked, careful not to make any sudden movements. If what he thinks was happening was the case, then he knew this wouldn't help. "Ophelia. It's Sirius Black, the handsome one from the Marauders." Sirius joked before remembering it probably wasn't the time to joke. "You don't know me that well but that doesn't matter. Um, we are at Hogwarts, in a classroom actually. No one else is here, just me and you. It's very safe here." He was trying to sound friendly but firm. The girl wasn't responding to Sirius yet, instead she was pulling her knees up to her head. "Ophelia, it is Sirius Black. Can you tap the ground twice if you can hear me?" Sirius knew he was repeating himself, but he knew it was necessary.

Tap. Tap.

"Ok Ophelia, you're doing really well." Sirius looked around the room quickly to find something that stood out. "Ophelia can you see a book case." A slight nod indicated Ophelia was able to hear him. "Ok can you tell me what colour books you can see?"

"R-red. B-brown. B-blue." A shaky answer but it was enough.

"Yes! Ok ok right Ophelia, can I pass you a book?"

"Ye-yes." A stronger answer. Sirius stood slowly and grabbed a book. He lowered himself back down to Ophelia's level before placing the book in her lap.

"Ophelia can you read the first page for me?" With patience Sirius allowed Ophelia to take her time with opening the book. The first sentence she read was stuttered, the second slightly stronger but by the last sentence Ophelia's voice was much more grounded and aware. "Ophelia do you know where you are?"

"Hogwarts." Ophelia's voice was level and steady. "What happened?"

"To be honest I'm not sure exactly, one moment you were fine and then James said something and you switched."

"You little shit." Ophelia muttered.

"Yeh. Someone hurt you didn't they?" Sirius questioned but instantly wanted to retract that statement realising how insensitive it was to ask, especially after what Ophelia had just been through. Ophelia didn't answer, instead she just looked away. "Sorry. Sorry Ophelia that was blunt. It's just, its just I understand."

"What do you mean?" Ophelia looked back to Sirius, spotting his dark grey eyes were etched in concern.

"Let's just say, the people who are supposed to love me don't." As Sirius said this Ophelia noticed how he actually seemed unbothered by the statement.

"Oh. I'm sorry."

"Why are you apologising? It's not you doing it. But it's ok, I have a new family now, I still live with my beloved parents but I stay with the Potters a lot."

"The Potters? As in James?"

"Yep. They're amazing people, what I'm trying to say is my family is now The Potters as well as Remus and Peter."

"That's really nice." Ophelia smiled but couldn't help but feel sad that she didn't feel like she truly had this.

"I'm guessing the reason you only joined Hogwarts this year is because you left those people?" Sirius asked.

"Yeh, but can we keep this between us? I don't want people to think any differently of me."

"My lips are sealed." Sirius mimicked a zip closing over his mouth. "Bmdj jrhch-" he unzipped his mouth now. "Sorry had to unzip it to speak." Ophelia laughed. "There it is, the laugh that everyone already loves."

"They don't."

"Do." Sirius was shocked by this insecurity but it now all made sense. How had he not spotted it already? Ophelia was afraid of life. Not just afraid, petrified. The small flinches when someone moved suddenly. The early morning breakfasts. The last to go to her dorm. The need to be reading set books constantly. Sirius was shocked it had taken her this long to fold, or maybe she already had?

"Whatever." Sirius was brought back from his thoughts. "Thank you for helping me though, I've never had that happen before, or at least not like that."

"No problem, I wasn't exactly going to leave you. I can't really take the credit either, I was only doing what someone else had done for me. Apart from he had chocolate at the end, and I don't have chocolate."

"Haha, well I do love chocolate but you did amazing."

"Fancy skipping the rest of the morning?" Sirius asked. "You probably should sleep or something."

"Wouldn't want to do anything else."

"Let's head to the common room. By the way, that prank you did was really good I think we may need you to give us some fresh ideas."

"Hm, maybe. On one condition."

"Depends." Sirius raised an eyebrow, half in excitement and half in interest.

"Our first prank is on Minnie."

"Deal. It's going to be hard though."

"Aren't you talking to the first person who pranked the marauders?" Sirius remained silent. "Thought so, you've got nothing to worry about."

───── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ─────

Back in the warmth of the common room, Ophelia suddenly felt the weight of what had happened pile on top of her. She was exhausted, yet wide awake with senses on overdrive. She was cold, shivering with goosebumps yet could feel the sweat on her forehead. She was -

"Talk." Sirius interrupted her thoughts. "Talk, or write it down. It helps."

"It just won't come out if I try to write it down." This was true Ophelia had tried a diary before but something would stop her. "I don't like telling people either because I don't want to burden them or think differently of me."

"I was the same, to be honest I still can be. But the boys don't think any differently of me because of some struggles I've had. All of us have some, some bigger than others it may seem but we all have hardships of our own."

"You're right I suppose."

"I know I'm right because I'm repeating what Remus told me and he's always right." This made Ophelia laugh. "Do you want to try talking about it? I know we aren't really what you call friends but maybe that's a good thing. You can have someone completely unbiased to the situation. Plus I promise I wouldn't tell anyone, even if I was a bad person I wouldn't because I'm secretly petrified of Minnie."

"She can be very scary, but its all an act. She's truly amazing." Ophelia smiled whilst thinking of Minnie, earlier she was thinking she had nobody. But she was wrong, she had Minnie. A small silence followed as Ophelia struggled to find words.

"Maybe start with just explaining what you saw today? Get that weight off your shoulders."

"I saw Mr and Mrs Montgomery, they are my parents. Well adoptive parents. I, I,-" Ophelia felt herself struggling to breathe, she hadn't actually spoken about them since being in hospital.

"Don't feel like you have to tell me about them, they were bad people we can go with that."

"Thank you. Yeh, they were bad people. Basically what James said is something they would say to me and then they'd punish me." Ophelia gulped, pushing down the nauseating feeling in her stomach. "Sorry, I don't think I can say more."

"You said enough, now let's have a distraction." Sirius clapped his hand enthusiastically, he didn't want it to seem like he didn't care but he knew that sometimes distractions were exactly what you needed. "Talk to me about your prank for Minnie."

"Ok, its pretty simple really. Well the idea is, not the execution. Its a bit like what I did to you, no super jazzy spells or charms as such. More just playing on things we know would get to her."

"I see, so you knew we'd wouldn't be looking for muggle pranks and that's what threw us off this morning."

"Precisely! Obviously I used some magic but the principle of changing your alarms and hiding things were still there."

"I hate to say it, but that was bloody clever. Ok, what's the plan with our dear Minnie."

"Well what is the first thing you think of when you think of Minnie?"

"Petrifying."

"Hot." A new voice had joined the room. "Sorry, got a free period before lunch so thought I'd join you. What we on about?" James slumped into the sofa beside Ophelia.

"I can't believe you just called her hot James." Ophelia sighed. "You'll break Lily's heart." Distractions were working, Ophelia was relaxing once again.

"She'll just have to get over. You feeling better?" James was a very 'touchy feely' person so instantly went to wrap his arm around Ophelia before taking a second to think. He looked over at Sirius for a second opinion and Sirius just shrugged, he too wasn't sure of the reaction.

"It's ok James, don't treat me differently now. What happened earlier, pretend you never saw it." Ophelia had noticed the arm movement and the freezing of that.

"What did I see earlier?" James sent a wink at Ophelia, then wrapped his arm around her shoulder. Ophelia was shocked to feel relatively safe with James, it felt familiar and she found herself instinctively leaning into him. Not in any romantic way, more in a safety way. "Anyway why were we discussing Minnie."

"Ophelia is going to help us with pranks, in return we are helping her prank the one and only beautiful Professor Minerva McGonagall."

"Bloody hell, how?"

"Well this is what I was just saying when I said what do you think of. The answer I was hoping for was a cat."

"You expected us to get that? I mean maybe I could have in the end, but Sirius? Nope."

"Ok, I was optimistic. Anyway I was thinking that her classroom wasn't very cat friendly."

"Oh I like this already." Sirius rubbed his hands together like he was forming some evil plan.

"I think a lovely bed is needed in there rather than that old desk. Also how does the cat go to the toilet?" James was laughing now, he was thoroughly impressed with how thought out the prank was. Normally they just did a prank, Remus would plan the logistics but that was basically all the planning needed. The group never really planned a prank around a person, apart from Snape and that tended to just be silly pranks with no plans.

"What can we do for you then?"

"I need distractions and help to cat-ify the classroom. So, I was thinking you two can be the distraction. Do a prank you know Minnie will come tell you off for, I will need about 3o minutes to change the room up if I have help. Hopefully we can persuade Remus and Peter to join in?"

"Oh I'm sure we can get Remus to help." James winked at Sirius as he said this.

"Huh?" Ophelia tried to turn to look at James but was a bit stuck.

"Nothing. When we doing it then?" Sirius changed the conversation back to the prank.

"We have Transfiguration first thing on a Monday, so lets do it before the lesson starts. Then we get to see it all unfold after."

"Oh my merlin I can't wait."

"Ophelia you are a genius." James rubbed the top of Ophelia's head. A clock tower chimed signalling it was time for lunch. "Lunch guys?"

"Of course." Sirius jumped up but noticed Ophelia hadn't moved at all. "Come on Fi." He put his hand forward and offered a reassuring smile.

"Fi?" Ophelia took Sirius' hand and allowed him to pull her off the couch.

"Yep, Ophelia is a mouthful and as my new found friend you must have a nickname."

"I like it." To have a nickname meant more to Ophelia than Sirius would ever realise.

"Come on then Sirius, Fi. Otherwise Peter will have eaten all the food." James was already climbing out the portrait.

"You don't have to eat much, just nibble on something at least." Sirius looked at Ophelia as he held the painting open for her, James now at least one hundred metres ahead.

"Thank you so much for today Sirius."

"Don't thank me, its what friends are for."

───── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ─────

This was the bonding chapter for Ophelia and Sirius! Slightly darker way of bonding but I actually liked writing it! I feel for her to be true friends with the Marauders she needs to have an individual relationship with them all!

I hope this chapter was ok, I tried to research as much as I could on flashbacks from both sides!

QOTC - Who do you think would be best in a situation like this in the Golden Trio era?

My Answer - I actually think it would be Fred and George - either individually or together. I think they would be super comforting and know exactly how to help. Obviously adult Remus would be a babe too. Might be surprising but I don't think Molly would be the best here, I think she could be too smothering like want to hug you throughout or something!!

Anyway vote if you enjoyed this chapter, it means a lot xx