Oh Your Girlfriend's Drifting Away [1998]

[Ophelia Veuve]

The hour of 11.30 in the night barely made a difference to the City that Never Slept. Lights glittered blindingly and cars went screaming past still on the orange-lit roads, flow of pedestrians giving no sign to ceasing. Evening had long since faded away and yet that seemed to make no difference to Ophelia Leigh-Ann Veuve, too. She was a glorious sight mingling among the handful of muggles littered about the pavement, swathed in a dashing gown that was practically a peach-coloured swirling dream of chiffon and silk, sky-high lace-embroided heels enhancing her otherwise unimpressive height of 5'6". Heads turned. The young lady had a sort of grace in her loping, somewhat drifting stroll that made it hard to believe that there weren't a camera set steering behind her, or that she was, in fact, teetering between 'tipsy' and 'drunk'.

Actually, Opie had a hard time believing that she was entirely alone right now, too. Eighteen years old and graduated, attending school prom on the arm of her doting fiancé - but what did it say for the sole heiress to the massive business dynasty that was Veuve Universal? According to her parents, danger lurked everywhere, especially at this stage of time when a life-changing catastrophe had only just blew past nearly two months ago in the United Kingdom. She'd spent the entire last week begging and pleading to be given at least this one day's worth of solitude and freedom, to which vehement objections had finally given way to reluctant consent, but she wasn't holding high hopes.

In any other circumstance, the witch wasn't about to take risks, but alcohol did what it did best by clouding her judgment. The heel of her stiletto caught itself in a crack in the pavement and she stumbled slightly before regaining step, taking a moment to tilt her head slowly, an almost child-like expression colouring her delicate features as her liquid dark eyes searched about in mild paranoia. She'd earned her Apparation licence last month and had Apparated her way out of Salem, but Phi had over the years grown unbelievably conscious of her social standing and the ties that came along with it: wizarding and muggle paparazzi alike, her house elf that constantly tagged along as per her parents' commands, her fiancé whose arm she'd hung off for the past few hours in the school ballroom.

Oh, speaking of that.. An irony, wasn't it? Satisfied that she spotted no familiar faces nor any camera or recording devices, Ophelia went tripping once again in the direction of the flat belonging to her fiancé's brother. She knew where it was. It was no more a mission to find out Christian's living quarters as it was for her to pick out pretty dresses like the one she was wearing. She'd figured it out from when he'd first moved into it at all, but before the age of eighteen, there was little that she could do about it. Unspoken apologies were bit back so frequently when she tossed and turned on her bed at nights thinking about him, she was almost certain she had bite marks on her tongue from it. That will change now. Or so she hoped. What would he say when she turned up on his doorstep, not even actually sober? She knew she wasn't sober all right.

Paying no attention to the staring muggle security guard, she pulled out a transfigured residency card from her satin purse, waving it carelessly as she stumbled into the lift and punched the number which was Christian's floor. Opie blinked hard in a fruitless attempt to clear her head, sniffing a touch at the inside of her wrists to catch a whiff of her perfume, frowning a little when she caught none but instead picked up on the scent of alcohol. Drat. She was busy reapplying a spritz of perfume as she went hopping out of the elevator and moving towards Christian's flat. It was really not the elegant young woman that the American muggle and wizarding upper society adored to bits buzzing Christian Kennedy's doorbell at 11 in the night. More like just Ophelia Leigh-Ann Veuve, and a significantly drunk one at that.

[Christian Kennedy]

Christian Kennedy was in the midst of what was probably the single most significant undertaking of his entire life - and in doing so he was shattering to pieces the one thing he had sworn that he would never do. He had staked his hopes on the fact that he would never allow himself to go into politics - ever! Yet now he was shattering that promise into pieces by announcing his candidacy for the Senate of the U.S. Bureau of Magic. It had taken a lot of persuading on the part of the Revisionist Party in order to get Christian to join the cause, but in the end he knew that his candidacy could bring unparalleled recognition to the movement.

And so, rather than sleeping at 11 pm like a normal person would be, Christian was wide awake going over campaign notes and trying to figure out how he was going to pull this off. In order to send the strongest message, he would be running in the hotbed of magical elitism in the United States - his home of Massachusetts. It was going to be an uphill battle, especially with his family's influence in that constituency, but a victory could win unparalleled recognition for the Revisionist Party.

Christian was forced to stop, however, when there was a knock at the door, and he quickly hid the papers in his drawer. A few of his visitors were Muggles, and so he had to make sure that nothing in the main lounge area looked out of place. And after a brief look around the room Christian stuck his wand into his pocket and opened the door. His eyes immediately grew wide and his mouth fell open in shock. "Ophelia...?" he asked.

[Ophelia Veuve]

Oh dear. He looked shocked. Was that a good sign? The ginger-haired witch felt like folding back into herself, perhaps pretend that she was just passing by. She'd came all this way though. She couldn't just leave like this. Smile.. Yes, smile was good. Ophelia's lips tugged into a bright smile as she hopped backwards and twirled with her arms thrown out wide, her chiffon dress fluttering and fanning around her as she greeted in a strangely chipper tone, "Surprise!"

[Christian Kennedy]

Christian looked around for a moment before saying "Ophelia...what are you doing here? Term can't possibly be over yet, you should still be at Salem!" This was Ophelia's 7th and final year at the Salem Institute of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and Christian had no doubt that she should still be there right now putting the finishing touches on her school career. Whether that was making sure she actually graduated, or just enjoying the last few nights that she had at school - apparently school was a fun time for most people. Christian was worried, there was something off about her, and as she threw her arms out wide he realized what it was.

"Are you drunk?" Christian demanded as he sniffed the air, shaking his head. This was bad, very bad. Ophelia was still only 17 - still underage in the eyes of the Muggle law enforcement officers downstairs - hell, he wasn't even old enough to be drinking! And the fact that he himself was twenty only increased the amount of trouble that they could both be in - whether they were found by Wizards or Muggles.

[Ophelia Veuve]

Ophelia blinked, dropping her arms back to both of her sides as her mascara-laced eyes widened upon being admonished by Christian. When he demanded if she was drunk, the young lady actually shrank her head a little. He didn't seem happy to see her. Opie felt a little like the unexpected guest, worse of all an unwanted one. Her free hand flailed a little, smoothing non-existent wrinkles out of her dress as her gaze lowered to her manicured toes, looking rather like the berated child, "Maybe just a little..."

[Christian Kennedy]

Christian looked both ways outside the door and said "Well come in then, you don't want to be out and about while you're still like this." He put his arm around Ophelia's shoulder and guided her into the apartment, kicking the door shut behind them. He lead Ophelia into the sitting room and said "Okay, sit down. I'm going to go get you some water." Ophelia was clearly completely out of her senses. He had never seen her act this ... well, girly!

[Ophelia Veuve]

Ophelia still looked visibly troubled and timid as Christian placed his arm around her shoulders and guided her into his apartment, "I didn't skip school, I promise. I came from graduation.. I got my Apparation licence, did I tell you? I Apparated here."

The younger lady obediently sat down on the couch as she was directed to, though when Christian moved to leave her in order to get said glass of water, Phi hurriedly reached to hold him back, her lithe fingers sinking into the hem of his shirt as she tugged him before he could walk away from her. She actually looked sad and perhaps a little scared, her bottom lip aligned a touch forward than her upper lip and her chocolate eyes wide with hurt, "Are you angry at me? I'm sorry, I'm sorry, sorry sorry sorry...."

It was clear that she was talking about more than just her drunkenly popping up at his apartment at 11 in the night.

[Christian Kennedy]

If Ophelia thought that telling Christian that she had come straight from Graduation would make things better then she was sorely mistaken. If anything it was even worse that she was missing her own Post-Graduation festivities because she was too busy here talking to the sorry likes of him! "You left your...? You're supposed to be out celebrating right now!" Great, now Christian would have that guilt to deal with too - as if he didn't have enough of that already.

Of course Ophelia then had to go pull the guilt trip, apologizing to him as if he was the one who had any right to be mad right now. "No I'm not mad." Christian said, hating how much he felt like a parent talking to a disobedient child right now, but was he mad? No he wasn't, not about tonight - but about other things? About the way she had vanished from his life these last three years, taking away what little happiness he'd had - could he be mad at her for that? "I'm not mad..." he said again, though he wasn't as sure this time.

[Ophelia Veuve]

"Celebrating what?" Ophelia actually smiled, but her eyes were brimming with so much sadness it was almost pitiful, "It's another year closer before it's Zachary's turn." Another year closer before she would have to inevitably don the wedding gown and walk down the aisle on her father's arm towards a groom she didn't care for, least of all love.

Always a perceptive person, alcohol influence seemed to do little to blunt that skill of hers. Meanwhile, instead it only seemed to chip away her self-restraint and enhance her vulnerability. Her nose stung and she bit her bottom lip, "You are. You're angry that I told you to go away, aren't you?" Slowly she released the hem of his shirt, suddenly looking both forlorn and terribly uncertain of herself. What if she was wrong, and he really didn't care less about her anymore? What if she'd gotten it all wrong after all?

[Christian Kennedy]

Christian frowned when Ophelia said that Zach would not be graduating for another year, realizing that she really did love Zach now and not him - and that whatever tiny hopes he had held onto were now dead for sure. "Well this is still your special day." Christian muttered, knowing that In just three years time Ophelia and his brother would be married, and he would be left to wallow in the misery of what might have been.

When Ophelia brought up that day two years ago, Christian turned away and replied dully "That was two years ago...and several lifetimes I'm sure." So much had changed since then, so much would never be the same.

[Ophelia Veuve]

"I don't care," Ophelia clutched at the chiffon fabric of her gown in her lap, "it doesn't mean anything if you're not there with me." And yet, as Christian continued on and pointed out that whatever had happened was left in the dust, she wavered, seemingly reeled back a little, face paling a touch. It took a few moments for her to haul from her mind the first thing that popped up, and it sounded almost as if she couldn't quite understand it all, "So?"

She'd never said she was going to love Christian Kennedy for just one lifetime. Two, three, several - did it matter?

[Christian Kennedy]

Christian opened his mouth before immediately closing it again, not able to believe what was going on. Ophelia seemed to have made a complete 180 in the last ten seconds, and he was completely confused as to how it had happened. "Uhh...you...I..." Christian stammered, all of his previously intelligent remarks now completely gone. after all, what was there to say at this point?

[Ophelia Veuve]

He was stammering. Why was he stammering? This could hardly come as a surprise for Christian, at least not in Ophelia's point of view. She'd lost her first kiss to him, something which she could not envision losing to anyone else but him. For a long moment, she waited for him to speak up, say something, but it seemed that all he could do was stutter. That could only mean that .. Did he no longer care for her that way? Heat flooded Opie's face.

Her voice was very small and she was staring hard into her lap as she finally said, "I see." But she didn't at all. She felt like crying. How stupid could she ever get? She swallowed an invisible lump in her throat, "I - I should go. I'm sorry for springing up on you like this..."

[Christian Kennedy]

"No! Wait!" Christian said, finding his voice at last, "Don't go! I mean, I'm happy to see you, I was just....startled is all." Christian paused for a moment before running his fingers gently through Ophelia's hair as he said "I mean, I never really thought you actually still cared...I thought that, I thought you'd moved on." He was quite pleasantly surprised to learn that Ophelia actually still had feelings about him, but it was rather startling to learn.

[Ophelia Veuve]

Christian's words brought a halt to her preparation to Apparate right on the spot. Ophelia stilled as he spoke, though old habits died hard and she tilted her head slightly, leaning into his touch as he threaded his fingers through her hair. Her heart was drumming so hard within her chest, she wasn't quite certain how her ribcage could hold it in. She felt like crying. How could she ever move on from him? She couldn't, and she wouldn't. "I can't," she admitted with a ghost of a smile drifting past her lips, "and I'm not sure I ever want to."

[Christian Kennedy]

"I..." Christian began, not sure if he should be doing this or not. If he should be sticking his nose into his family once again. Ophelia had been something he had sacrificed to get away from them, did he really just want to get sucked back in again? "I...don't want you to either." Christian said, throwing himself back into the firing range that was his horrible mess of a family.

[Ophelia Veuve]

"Don't you?" Ophelia's voice was very soft, trembling slightly. She turned her face up to look at Christian, her caramel-coloured eyes glittering with tears that had welled up. It was a good thing that she was wearing waterproof mascara, or she would be quite the sight. For one who was usually remarkably confident in herself, the young lady was terribly uncertain now. "Do you even still care?"

[Christian Kennedy]

"I do..." Christian said, his head now pounding from all of this thinking "I just...didn't think that it would ever work..." he had given up was what he had done, given up on any hope of ever seeing her again, let alone of being with her. He had abandoned all hope - not that he had ever been given very much of it, and that was the truth of the matter. "I mean, you're still engaged to Zach...aren't you?" Christian asked, as if by some miracle she might not be.

[Ophelia Veuve]

Tears began sliding down the witch's cheek, "But I don't like him. I don't want to marry him." She sounded bit like a petulant child then, something that was strange with Ophelia Veuve, who always had acted rather the grown-up owing to the circumstances of her lifestyle and position. With Christian however, Opie let her guard down.

[Christian Kennedy]

"I know you don't..." Christian said, though in reality he had known no such thing - and indeed he had been quite concerned about the possibility. "Well...I..." Christian sighed before asking "Ophelia, why're you here? Did you come all this way just to tell me you don't want to marry Zach, or are you here so I can help you do something about it?" Christian was not the comforting sort - he just got right to the point.

[Ophelia Veuve]

Tears were falling thicker now, and Ophelia answered brokenly, "I don't know. I just don't want us to be over." She lifted her hand, pressing its back against her lips to stifle the cries. Her shoulders shook with each sob. She was just eighteen after all, and there were only so many people she allowed herself to be less than steel strong in front of.

[Christian Kennedy]

Christian gently took hold of Ophelia's shoulder and lifted her up so she was seated upright and drew her close to him, hugging her in as comforting a manner as he could as he said "I don't either. But the only one of us who can do anything about it is you." Christian knew he should be more comforting, but the point seemed pretty clear to him that Ophelia could make this happened if she wanted to, whereas he could not.

[Ophelia Veuve]

Opie buried her face in his chest, curling her fingers into the fabric of his shirt, her voice fracturing as she pleaded, "Can't we just not think of that now?" Her lithe body shook in his arms as she cried, until finally she pulled herself out of his embrace, her hands creeping up to frame his face, "Please? Can't we just forget about Zachary for now?" Her voice volume diminished lower and lower, until it was barely just above a whisper, her eyes searching his face for some trace of care "Please? I love you?"

[Christian Kennedy]

Christian was not quite sure how to react to how Ophelia was behaving right now, this was very unusual of her, and he was not at all prepared for it. "Of course we can." Christian replied at last, though he did not know why he would say something like that. It didn't make sense, not to mention the fact that it was something that they could not do even if they wanted to.

[Ophelia Veuve]

Christian was right. It was highly uncharacteristic for Ophelia Veuve to beg anyone at all, even Christian. However, the young lady was inebriated as of the moment, and whilst any other girl may have found it downright unromantic that Christian hadn't even uttered the three words back, Opie was all too familiar with the dark-haired wizard. What that mattered was that he'd said yes. That itself took effort from Christian, that much she knew. Finally, a sliver of smile broke through on the witch's face, and she stretched up, her hands still placed on both sides of Christian's face. Carefully, she gently kissed him on the lips. "Thank you," she said quietly.