Tea Time (Ophelia)

[Samantha Lippre]

Samantha needed some girl time. She'd been so stressed about her school work as she was trying to study for her upcoming exams. She wasn't very good at studying, though. She normally ended up way too distracted or she would fall asleep with a book in her lap. She was definitely no Ravenclaw.

So she asked her friend and house mate to meet her at Madam Puddifoot's today for a little bit of relaxation. Sure, they could get a cup of tea from the house elves but she needed to get out of that castle before she lost her mind.

"Can I get a pumpkin scone and a cup of tea please?" Sam asked the woman behind the counter as she set the appropriate change before her. She waited for her items to be presented before taking a seat in the corner. She added quite a bit of sugar to her cup, a bit more than most would but she liked it sweet. She was just looking at the time when the door opened and her Slytherin friend walked through the door.

"Ophelia! I'm so glad you came. I could really use some girl time."

[Ophelia Burke]

Ophelia, of course, was always glad for an excuse to get away from the school and from her sisters. Well, she didn't mind Allaire, but Kassia had been so much more annoying lately, and Ophelia had decided to ignore her. But of course, the main reason she was glad to get away from the school was her so-called fiance. She was going out of her way to avoid meeting him now, and had even taken to hiding in the library of all places, just to escape him. The rest of her spare time was usually spent with Tyler, and so she had hardly even seen Samantha lately.

"Sam!" she gushed, rushing over to give her friend a hug. "I'm so glad to see you! Doesn't it feel so good to get away from that wretched place? I swear, sometimes I feel like I'm just going to waste away inside that drafty old building! And at least in a place like this, I'm sure to be safe from Axelthorpe."

She knew perfectly well that her arranged fiance was named Axis Thorne, but she liked to call him anything but, just to show her perfect contempt for the man she still had yet to meet.

[Samantha Lippre]

Samantha smiled as she returned the hug with her old friend. They been room mates all through their years at Hogwarts and had a lot in common. She could talk to Ophelia for hours and never get bored. She had an interesting situation and Sam loved to hear the details about it all. It was much more facinating than her obsession with Toby, which Ophelia didn't even know about yet. She merely knew that Sam had a crush on someone and wouldn't fess up who it was.

"You're so right. I feel like I've been suffocating in there from all the studying and preparing for the end of the year." She sighed as she realized she only had one more year before she was off to start her life. She hadn't even decided what she wanted to do yet. She laughed then, however, as her friend talked about her fiance. It was obvious that she wasn't excited about the idea of an arranged marriage. Personally, Sam envied her. At least she knew she wouldn't spend her life alone.

"So how is all that going anyways? Have you met the poor bugger yet?" She asked with a grin as she took her seat again. She was very curious about this man as she hadn't met him either. She only knew what Ophelia told her and it was usually never good.

[Ophelia Burke]

Ophelia tossed her blonde curls behind her shoulder dramatically. "I most certainly have not. Kassia keeps trying to arrange a meeting between us, and I refuse. I am not going to be Mrs. Axelrod, no matter what my father says. I'm going to marry Tyler, and Daddy is just going to have to accept it."

Her boyfriend Tyler might have been a Gryffindor, but he still came from a rich, pureblood family, and she couldn't understand why this was not good enough for her father. She wasn't some brain-dead puppet who was incapable of making a decision on a proper husband.

"To make matters worse, Jadon and my mother aren't saying a word about the matter. Allaire is the only one on my side, I swear!"

Ophelia paused to address the waitress, who had just come to their table, and ordered a cup of tea and a chocolate biscuit.

"Anyway, enough about me," she said at last, turning back to Samantha. Only her closest friends ever heard Ophelia actually say such a phrase, because of course, talking about herself was normally her very favorite subject. "What have you been doing with yourself? Any news on your mystery man?" She added with a wink.

[Samantha Lippre]

Samantha couldn't imagine what it was like to have her parents pick her husband. She didn't imagine her father would try the same because he probably would have picked already. But he certainly wouldn't hesitate to say no if she brought the "wrong sort" home. She wondered why the Burke's weren't allowing Ophelia to pick her own husband. She knew Tyler was a good choice.

"Well, maybe you should meet him. If he really is a jerk, then at least you can have a legitimate reason to say no. For now they can tell you 'But darling, you haven't even met the poor boy'." She said in a terrible imitation of Mr. Burke.

"Well, as a matter of fact there is. He and I had a very nice conversation the other day. He, of course, couldn't keep his eyes off me." Sam said with a smirk. It was streching the truth a bit but she wasn't going to have Ophelia think she'd gone and lost her touch. Toby, although a bit more interested in her than he had been before, would probably never look at her the way she wanted him to.

[Ophelia Burke]

Ophelia gave a delicate sniff. The truly horrible thing about her situation was that her father didn't seem to really care if she met the guy before she married him. He seemed to think it perfectly acceptable for her to walk down the aisle with a complete stranger and then spend the rest of her life with him. Only Kassia had an interest in setting up a meeting between the two of them, as if that was going to change her mind. Not that anyone involved even believed she had a mind. They all just wanted to control her. Even her younger sister thought she knew what was best for Ophelia, and that was more than she could take.

"If I meet him, I just might hex him," she said in a lofty tone. "He'd really be much better off if he stayed away from me."

But really, all this drama could be so tedious. While she did enjoy all the fuss and having an excuse to call attention to herself, it did get tiresome after a while. After all, neither side was budging right now, and until drastic action was taken, it seemed like nothing would be resolved.

She was still plotting to run away with Tyler, which seemed the only course of action she had. School was almost over for the year, and she'd have to go home to her father... and away from Tyler. Without him close by, the chances were too great that her father would drag her kicking and screaming to the nearest chapel to marry Axelrod against her will.

"But you must tell me more about your guy. I knew he wouldn't be able to resist you for long! It's so good to hear happy news... what happened?"

[Samantha Lippre]

Samantha gave a light chuckle at her over dramatic friend. She knew from the way Ophelia talked about her husband-to-be that she wouldn't hesitate in hexing the poor guy. Samantha found that amusing however. She only wished she could be there when the two finally do meet so she can watch the look on his face when she raises her wand at him instead of a hand to be kissed.

"Well, maybe if you hex him good enough you won't be able to marry him." Sam said with a smirk on her face. His family would probably be offended and wouldn't allow the engagement to continue. She hoped they would just call it off for the sake of her friend but it was rather doubtful, considering they'd let it go on for so long.

"You know I can't tell you his name yet. Just know that his eyes are even dreamier up close." She said with a grin as she thought about them. She recalled what happened, as she'd done several times since they met. "Well, I sat with him in the courtyard and we talked for a while. He hung on my every word," Again she stretched the truth. But that was just Sam. "Then we went for a walk around the lake. It was rather romantic actually."