We never believed (Ophelia)

[Deleted]

It had been a while since Heleen had met Ophelia at the front porch of the department of mysteries where the other woman had been searching for answers. A lot had happened in Hel's life since then and not all of it equally pleasant. She'd been in a life changing accident, partially because she'd been working on a project she'd pushed through for the express purpose of helping out Ophelia. It had both been a huge help and a massive setback and since she hadn't wanted to disappoint the other woman due to the nature of her inquiry, she'd mostly been quiet, except for an occasional message that she was still working on it. That and the project with Dmitri had consumed most of her time of late, along with attempting to master her newfound ability to see more of magic than most people could.

She'd encountered a tough spot of late that she hadn't been able to work out. Ophelia had said her memories had been wiped but Heleen didn't know how nor the exact nature of the disappearing memories. Memories sealed off inside a mind could be unsealed. If they had been erased, was there still a spell to retrieve the memories from the void to which vashished things go? What if it hadn't been a spell but a potion? There was just too many unknown factors that made designing anything to retrieve lost memories nearly impossible, even with the help from a friend she had in the 'brain'-room.

So she'd written Ophelia and asked her to meet up in an adorable little tea room in central London. It was a muggle space that was pretty much never frequented by wizards or witches, which was quite the important detail to Heleen. She wanted to be able to use some magic to ensure privacy without the risk of people catching on to the fact she was using magic. Luckily for her it was a lot easier for her to recognise witches and wizards these days with use of her special gifts. She'd ordered herself and Ophelia a very fancy high tea, partially for show and partially because it simply was a fun thing to do and she still wanted to befriend the other woman despite everything going on in the space between them. So Heleen sat at the little corner booth with a large cup of hot tea waiting for Ophelia and the many delights that would soon enough make their way to their table. It was only a matter of time before Ophelia would show up so Heleen was busying herself in the mean time by searching through her notes on the various projects she was engaged in at work. Naturally written both in a different languaged and encoded to ensure that even the most curious souls would not so soon be inclined to be able to steal or even read any of her work.

Ophelia Mae Teller

[Ophelia Mae Teller]

Ophelia was excited to receive the owl from Heleen; they had met a few times, but only briefly and mostly about what Heleen had been able to find out in her quest to retrieve her stolen memories. While Ophie was thrilled someone was helping her, she had wanted to get to know Heleen a little bit better, as a friend. The tea room was a perfect spot; Heleen couldn’t have known it but it was the same tea room her mother had taken her on her eleventh birthday, so many years ago. It was the day after she had received her Hogwarts letter, as was custom, and her mother had decided that she needed a Muggle celebration along with a Wizarding celebration of this momentous occasion. It was so like her mother to want to ensure her children had an understanding, no, appreciation, of Muggle culture, so that they could experience her side of the world while she was growing up.

Dressed in a warm peacoat and scarf, Ophelia bustled into the tea room, spotted Heleen and waved merrily at the other woman. “Hello!” she exclaimed as she took her seat opposite of her, removing her coat and scarf as she settled in. “How have you been? I know you’ve been busy with work and all but I’m so delighted we’re here. My mum actually took me here for my eleventh birthday oh….years ago,” she said with a little giggle.

@seph

[Deleted]

Ophelia was a bundle of joy, something that Heleen could relate to and found very pleasant to be around. She cheerfully greeted the other woman and gave her a quick hug. It was nice to see her again, especially with everything that had been going on. Complicated things that she couldn't hope to explain despite her job. She even was required to be extra careful due to her work. If anybody figured out the secret she'd been keeping she wouldn't have a quiet day in her life again. That sort of a prospect was very good for keeping secrets, although she figured that she might be able to at least use her newfound knowledge to see if she could help Ophelia. If nothing else it could hopefully point her in the right direction.

"I've been fine. Had a bit of an accident a while back that had a rather large impact on my every day life." She rolled her eyes to minimise the serious sound of it. "It's not all that bad but it's something I need to be careful about. I think it might help in figuring out what happened though." She said and poured a cup of tea. "Naturally I can't tell you anything but you're going to have to keep whatever happens secret, especially from your dad." Since her dad worked in the same department Heleen didn't want to risk him finding out. She didn't want anybody to know but the only thing stronger than her wish to keep it secret was the promise that she'd do what she could to help. Now that her options were broader she felt compelled to try. "As a side note, are you any good at healing spells?" She brought a few healing potions but she was getting a bit sick of the taste. She still had to see about talking to Sienna for either more healing potions or something a bit more complicated to reduce the symptoms, although things had gotten quite a bit better since it all had started. She just had to be extremely careful using her ability on herself.

Ophelia Mae Teller

[Ophelia Mae Teller]

Ophelia’s eyes widened at Heleen’s mention of an accident. “Oh my goodness!” she exclaimed, a hand raising to her mouth. “Are you alright? I can try to help you in any way I can of course, if you want my help that is.” The offer to help was always just seconds away from Ophie’s lips; she was a Hufflepuff through and through and hated seeing people, especially those she cared about, come to any harm. She knew that she could probably tell Heleen about her Empathic Touch, an ability she had only recently discovered she had herself, but she wouldn’t force her help on the woman. That would be pushy, something Ophelia certainly was not.

Ophelia nodded at Heleen’s next words. She understood the need for secrecy, especially in the Department of Mysteries. For Merlin’s sake, the name had the word MYSTERY in it after all! She would never tell her father or her brother what they were up to anyway; they would just insist on her going through the legal recourse of getting an Auror involved. Ophie knew Sarah had ways of sneaking around, unnoticed and not bound by any type of law. “I’m halfway decent at healing spells. Definitely better than I was when I first left Hogwarts, but I wouldn’t call myself the best Healer at Saint Mungo’s” she admitted with a laugh. She remembered, with a pang, of the nights of studying with Dakota, both before and after she found out they were pregnant, and how she wanted to provide a better life for their child. Now that was gone, both Koda and the baby, and all Ophelia had left was the desire to see justice through to the end.

@seph

[Deleted]

Heleen smiled slightly at the instant offer that Fee gave her. She recognised a lot of herself in the other woman. If their places had been reversed Heleen would have reacted pretty much exactly the same. "It's fine!" She assured the other woman quickly. "I'm mostly recovered by now. Some small lingering side effects but nothing too serious." Not to mention nothing she could tell without risking breaking her secrecy vow. It complicated matters, even if she hadn't actually told anybody within her department about her new skillset either. Well, only Dmitri but that hardly counted since he was her boyfriend. He wasn't a coworker in the same way that (for instance) Fee's brother was. She definitively wasn't inclined to tell Felix about her newfound abilities.

Heleen nodded when Fee said she was halfway decent at healing spells. "You might need them. One of the side effects means I sometimes get injuries from using magic. I can't really offer up more details." It wasn't quite the truth but it wasn't a full blown lie. It was vague enough middle ground that she felt she could get away with it. "I'd rather not have anybody know though. I'm scared I could lose my job if they think I'm a health hazard or something." She lied, it coming oddly easily on this specific subject. She normally hated lying but this was to protect herself. Different rules applied. She smiled at her friend encourgagingly and nodded slightly. "I just want to see if I can find any signs that somebody used memory modification charms. It might be a good place to start. I'm pretty good at charms so it should help me to find out." She winked as she tapped her wand slightly, having hidden it in her purse since they were still in a muggle place. Ophelia would probably presume it was a spell, which was better. The less she knew, the safer she'd be if anybody nefarious came looking for information on her abilities.

Ophelia Mae Teller

[Ophelia Mae Teller]

Ophelia understood the need for secrecy - she had of course developed her own ability and St. Mungos kept it very hush hush and under wraps. They knew if it was public knowledge that she could take away the mental anguish people felt at the expense of her physical well-being, she could potentially slip into a coma. That was something neither Ophie nor the hospital was willing to risk. “I understand,” she said simply, not probing any further. She knew the risk of revealing too much all too well - she hadn’t rushed to tell her family about her ability either, and only told Felix when he noticed how frequent her migraines were getting. As she has suspected, he went into over-protective brother mode, which only put more stress on her. She knew he meant well, but he had to let her go her own way - she was in her mid-twenties now for Merlins’ sake!

Ophelia sat up a little straighter, understanding exactly what Heleen meant. If she could find evidence that her memory had been tampered with...well there wasn’t anyone else in Ophie’s life that would dare modify her memory except for Sarah. Felix would be furious of course if he found out, which was why Ophie had decided to leave him in the dark for now about this excursion. “Alright,” she said and took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. “I’m ready, work your magic,” she told Heleen, a determined look appearing over her face. She was ready to find out what she already suspected, and if she was right...well, they would take the next step as they needed to.

@seph

[Deleted]

Heleen was glad that Fee understood the need for secrecy. She was a little apprehensive about trying to use her newfound abilities like this but she felt like she owed Fee at least that much. The other woman had never been anything but kind to her and she had needed a friend badly when Fee had come along into her life. She smiled a little nervously as she glanced over her shoulder at the cafe. Nobody seemed to be paying any attention to them in particular and nobody was in range to actually see her face, even in refelctive surfaces. She'd chosen her spot with the express purpose of avoiding being seen after all. She took a deep breath to steady herself and then furrowed her brow slightly as she got to work. This... wasn't going to be easy.

The moment she actively tried to see there was an instant barrage of magical strings that she could easily see. Even though this place was muggle, the two girls were not and she could see faint traces of summoning and levitation charms on the fabric of their clothes and other items. Those had become easy enough to recognise and tune out when she was looking for something. The colours dancing in front of her eyes slowly grew more distinct as she plucked at the strands around Fee's mind. Mind affecting charms were so difficult considering so much magic coursed through the mind before actually being cast. She could feel her limbs already get weary but she couldn't quit yet. It took a while before she finally could locate the strand of magic that was old, old but still holding strong, interlaced with the other strands in a way that made it near invisible. She couldn't tell what it was, but she could feel this was all she could safely manage for now.

As she pulled back she instantly felt the price she had to pay as a coughing fit took over her body. Heleen closed her eyes and grabbed a pen, holding it as she quickly wrote a note to Fee, eyes closed since she had to count on magic to make it legible. She couldn't really manage to get words out between the coughing and she could taste iron in her mouth. Not to mention she was getting a rather bad headache that would possibly last for more than a day. Healing potions? She tried her best to calm her breathing slightly but she knew this was part of the price. Her body started breaking down whenever she started doing something more difficult.

Ophelia Mae Teller

[Ophelia Mae Teller]

Ophelia closed her eyes along with Heleen; she didn’t think it was appropriate to just stare openly at her friend while she worked her power. She didn’t know what to expect but she felt...something, a presence almost, working its way through her very essence. It was a strange, surreal feeling, but Ophelia let it embrace her. She knew she had to know the truth, no matter how ugly it really was.

Suddenly, the feeling rushed out of her, and Heleen was having a coughing fit. Ophelia reached over, concerned but Heleen wrote something down. “Of course,” she said quickly, diving into her bag for healing potions, but finding nothing. “Damn,” she cursed quietly, then reached over to grab Heleens hands. This time, she closed her eyes and concentrated. Most of what Heleen was feeling was purely physical, but she was able to take away some of the mental anxiety she was experiencing to get them back to her flat a block away. Knowing she had precious moments, she left a tenner on the table, and assisted Heleen down the block to her flat, feeling the migraine coming on. She got them both into the apartment and opened the cabinet to feed her friend the Healing potion, before slumping onto a loveseat and closing her eyes, trying to shut off the throbbing in her head.

@seph

[Deleted]

Fee had no potions on her but she did.. something. Hel closed her eyes, squeezing them shut. This wasn't the moment to be overly curious, although she could feel something touching her mind. Her innate capacities as Occlumens had swatted at it and Heleen felt weary and drained but followed her friend back to her appartment either way. She gladly accepted the potion and managed to chuck it between coughing fits. She then looked at her friend with concern. "What.... what was that?" She asked tentatively, as she tried to envision the memory of the threads. Somebody had definitively been messing with her memories but it was complicated and hardly easy to decipher. Not to mention it was dangerous. "You..." She shook her head, even if her curiosity compelled her to keep going. She bit her lip to keep from overstepping. Fee was clearly not feeling very well. Heleen wondered if she was having a migrane and quickly shut some of the drapes to take the worst of the light out of the room before making a piece of cloth wet with warm water and walking over. "This always helps when I get a headache. Helps the muscles relax." She said as she sat on the very edge of the loveseat and put the damp warm cloth on her friends forehead. Then she took a deep breath. "Somebody messed with your memories. I just, don't know the details of it." She admitted reluctantly. Fee deserved to know that much.

Ophelia Mae Teller

[Ophelia Mae Teller]

Ophelia opened one eye as she felt the damp cloth touch her brow, and smiled weakly in thanks. “I’m sorry, normally I try to explain myself before I use my power, but you seemed to be in such distress and I couldn’t…” she said, groaning as she shifted to sit up a little more. “I have….well, I don’t exactly know what its’ called, because nobody else seems to have ever had this kind of power. I can take feelings, pain or suffering usually, and sort of...suck them out of you. The result is the person feels lighter, and I get stuck with a massive headache,” she explained. She really didn’t know where or who she got the power from; she just knew one day she was holding the hands of a woman who’d just lost her husband to disease, and suddenly she had felt her pain, her grief, her agony. She’d sucked it all up and the darkness in the new widows’ eyes cleared, and Ophelia had to go off to find a dark space to lie down. Not before she had been thanked, so sincerely, by her however. “It’s worth it though; nobody should have to drown in their suffering, and the headaches don't last too long.” Indeed, her head was throbbing with considerably less force now than it had been minutes ago; Heleen’s pain hadn’t been piling up as long as most of the people she performed this for was.

Ophelia let out a long, slow breath as Heleen revealed her memories had been tampered with. So the truth was out there at last. She had always known something was off about the day of her accident, that she wasn’t remembering everything she should have been. But the news of her miscarriage, just a month before her due date, and Dakota’s death just weeks after had pushed her suspicions to the background. Now they burst forward, a face clear in her mind. “Sarah,” she growled quietly, then looked up at Heleen. “Sarah Oliviera. I haven’t got any proof, not physical at least, but she was Dakota’s sister. Horrible woman, never liked me, which normally didn’t mean much but she always looked at me as if she...wanted to eat me for dinner,” she closed her eyes again, trying to control her anger. “Nobody else would benefit from my losing the child, no one else would have taken delight in causing my miscarriage and then wiping it from my memory. She's a true psychopath, that one,” Ophelia told her friend.

@seph

[Deleted]

Fee explained her abilities to take pain and distress and Heleen felt a little uncomfortable with the idea. Like it was an intrusion of sorts on her mind. As an occlumens it could easily feel like an intrusion if anybody touched on aspects she'd worked long and hard to mask or hide so the idea somebody could tap into her feelings was a little confronting, even if Fee had meant well. She wasn't going to make a point of it right now but it was something that she would keep in mind for other times. The young woman had quite a few trust issues so she didn't really want to open up unintentionally when she wasn't fully comfortable with that. She felt her mental defences strengthen at the news but still smiled smoothly as ever. Hiding things was second nature to all unspeakables after all. "Well I hope your headache fades soon, although you should probably be a little more wary with telling unspeakables about mysterious powers that nobody else seems to possess." She warned Ophelia with slight concern to her voice. "We like unravelling mysteries and it wouldn't be the first time risks were taken in the name of research." It was very difficult to not consider the many stories she'd heard from unspeakables in both the UK and the Netherlands when it came to research having gone wrong. She worried about Fee's brother sometimes, because one of her coworkers admitted to having become an unspeakables in hopes of finding her father. Turned out he'd been researching space and gotten lost, unable to find his way home for several decades. Things like that happened.

As Fee told her about Sarah and the likelyhood that she was responsible, Heleen bit her lip slightly and nodded. "She sounds dangerous." The woman said with worry clear as day in her voice. She sighed and looked at her new friend for a moment as she thought about everything. "Well, just be careful. Vengence rarely brings the catharsis we hope for, statistically speaking at least. If she's as much of a psychopath as you say it might be better to get therapy than revenge. I don't want to see you getting hurt over what she did, even though I do understand that you might want to see her brought to justice." She sighed deeply and rubbed her eyes for a moment at the pure dread of the promise she was about to make. "I'll help as much as I can, regardless of your choice. I just ask you not to put yourself in mortal danger for the sake of revenge. It's not worth it." She stressed for a moment, wanting to have that perfectly clear. "But I'll help as much as I can."

Ophelia Mae Teller

[Ophelia Mae Teller]

Ophelia saw Heleen’s expression through her half closed lids and a wave of shame came over her. She didn’t normally just utilize her strange ability without informing the other person first, but she had been so worried in the moment, and her potions were here at the house. She had hated to see her friend in pain, so she’d just done it. “I’m sorry, normally I ask but...you just seemed in such distress and I hate seeing anyone in pain,” she apologized, her eyes brimming with tears. Ophelia was a kind and caring soul, but an emotional one at that. She hated people to think she was taking advantage of them.

Wiping her eyes, she nodded as Heleen warned her about vengeance. “I know, I know,” she said with a slight bob of her head. “Mostly I just want her to admit it. That she was responsible for my miscarriage, and that she killed her brother,” she told the other woman. It sounded simple enough, but with Sarah nothing was simple. She strongly doubted that Sarah would admit her guilt so freely, as it would guarantee a prison sentence in Azkaban. Plus she was a slippery sort and knew how to disappear. “You won’t tell my brother will you? I know you don’t speak of your work in your department, but I don’t want him to know my suspicions. Not yet, at least,” she asked, knowing it was a lot to ask for. Heleen might not work directly with Felix, but they were in the same department and at the very least knew of each other from that. Felix would be beside himself if he knew she was looking into it, and she couldn’t have him interfering. At least not yet.

@seph

[Deleted]

Heleen was quick to give her friend a reassuring smile as she apologised. "It's okay, you meant well. It's the work that makes all of us a little paranoid. Anything that messes with our heads generally speaking messes us up." She admitted with a bit of a shrug. She had trouble trusting almost anybody that wanted something out of her mind. Almost anything and anybody that seemed to want to know her thoughts, unless they worked with her. Even then it was difficult at times, because not all unspeakables had good intentions. Some would do anything to learn. Anything, including harming and killing others for the sake of what they considered progress.

Heleen nodded in understanding as Fee said she just wanted the other person to admit it. "I get that." She said, but she wondered how to remind the woman that it wasn't likely somebody like that would ever willingly give such a confession. "I just don't know if that is possible without veritaserum." She admitted a little nervously. "If she'd admit to anything like that she'd go to jail and from what I gathered she traded quite a bunch to get out. Denying you that peace of mind would be even less likely if she gains nothing, considering somebody that sadistic could deny you that simply for the sake of knowing it would do you well. The best revenge is living a good and fullfilling life despite her actions. It might change nothing for her, but it could change everything for you. I'll help in any way that I can, but I need you to consider that this might not be the best thing for you either." She said, pained that her advice would be so horribly unjust to the situation. Unfortunately she'd come to learn that vengence was better left a dream. While she'd never taken revenge on her ex and had wished him harm in the silence of her soul the news of his death had made her feel sick. Especially since somebody had killed him mercilessly. Deserved or not had become inconsequential, it had not made her feel better in the long run. It had made her feel worse in the short run. At times she even felt guilty that she felt relieved he was gone and she hadn't even (knowingly) been part of his demise.

"I won't tell Felix anything. I did make you a promise, but I just want you to consider other options. He won't get a peep from me, no matter what he asks. This matter is between us after all, and what you tell him is between yourself and Felix. I will not interfere left or right. Or at the very least not unless I feel the other option is letting you go off on some kind of suicide mission." She said rather pointedly. She wouldn't let her friend do something as stupid as that. It just wasn't her groove.

Ophelia Mae Teller

[Ophelia Mae Teller]

Ophelia felt relieved that Heleen didn’t feel truly angry towards her for interfering. She was right, Ophie was only trying to help her friend, as she hated seeing anyone she cared for in pain. “I know, revenge and vengeance is not my usual conclusion in anything I do really,” she admitted, shifting in her seat so she was facing Heleen spot on. “But I cannot forgive Sarah for what she’s done. To me, to my child, to Koda…” she trailed off, feeling the tears well up in her eyes. She remembered the Christmas before everything went wrong; how Koda had put together a beautiful nursery for their child in his home. How they would live together once the baby is born. Marriage hadn’t been discussed, but married or not Koda would have treated her like a queen, and their daughter a princess. Now they were both gone, and all Ophelia was left with was the knowledge that their murderer roamed free, a pathetic deal with the Ministry to stay out of prison. It was not right, the Ministry should never have made such a deal. Perhaps if they knew, if she could find proof of Sarah being the one to muddle her memories...or better yet recover the memory itself. She knew it was there, somewhere in her mind. Maybe that would be proof enough to lock her behind bars where she belonged.

“Thank you Heleen, I really appreciate everything you’re doing for me. I promise I won’t go off on a suicide mission,” Ophelia promised, managing a small smile. “I think the best thing I can do to protect Koda and my babys’ memory is to find a way to bring back that memory, the one that has been modified. Do you know how I can do this?” she asked her, hoping Heleen knew of someone or some way for her to get her memory back.

@seph

[Deleted]

Heleen was still worried as her friend admitted her usual path was different from the one she was walking now, which obviously wasn't a particularly good sign. Heleen frowned slightly at that observation and felt she understood a little better when Fee mentioned forgiveness. Heleen moved closer as her friend teared up, wrapping her arms around her in hopes of comforting her. She softly patted her back. "It's horrible. Just keep in mind you don't have to forgive her to move forward. She doesn't care about if you forgive her or not anyway. Forgiveness is something you should be giving yourself, especially if justice can't be achieved. You can't keep going after revenge with a single mind or it will consume you until you've nothing left if you manage to achieve it." Heleen suspected that even if Sarah were to find justice and go back to jail, it wouldn't be enough for Fee. Those that sought revenge were rarely satisfied when justice did occur because they wanted something more. Often something that wasn't possible to obtain. The return of their loved ones or something intangible that they lost. That couldn't be achieved by putting the one responsible away or even killing them. It was moving forward that would bring that, but it was exactly the one they they struggled with or simply couldn't do. It was tragic, in a way.

Bringing back lost memories wasn't a small feat, but Heleen was more than away some of her coworkers at the ministry might well be working on something. "I can ask. I might know somebody that has some more information." That at least was an easy promise to make, as it did increase the chances for justice. All in all that was something that Heleen felt she should at least try to help her friend with, even if she hoped it was possible for Fee to move forward without letting it depend on the outcome with Sarah. In her mind, moving forward would be better done by building a good life for herself, but she fully understood that wasn't so simply when the person that had taken her old life from her was on the loose like that. She'd do what she could, but she worried that this wasn't going to end well if Fee couldn't manage to let go of the past in order to build her new future.

Ophelia Mae Teller