Those Entrancing Eyes
Chapter One- Magical herbs and Aguamenti.
The great hall gleaned with a pristine air about it, as students conversed and ate. Neville sighed upon entry. Why did Hogwarts perfectness have to make him look even more unappealing than he really was? It was worth it though, he thought, wondering what he'd have to go through if forced through muggle schooling. Even if he did have Potions right after breakfast.
Neville plunked himself down at the Gryffindor table, as he always did, today in between Dean and Ginny. Which was probably for the best, as they'd just broken up. Neville sat down knowingly; he was often used as a barrier. He served himself a plate of eggs, bangers, and pancakes. They were harvesting mandrakes in Herbology, he'd need the energy. Breakfast passed by quickly, it was average for Neville. He could see Ron, Hermione, and Harry throwing troubled looks about. Neville decided against taking action, if Harry needed help, he'd ask. That's what Dumbledore's Army was for. He planned to whisper it to Luna and Ginny later, though.
Neville lagged behind Dean, as they walked to Potions. They soon reached the chilling dungeons; the door had the aura of evil, to Neville. He walked in, almost shivering.
A couple seconds later, a Slytherin girl walked in. Her name was Ophelia, and nobody ever seemed to notice her. She had an affinity for Charms, though. As she was often praised that class. She swiftly walked in her, book bag swung over her shoulder. She went directly in the direction of her seat, next to Millicent Bulstrode. They weren't friends; but Ophelia was glad that she wasn't stuck sitting next to Malfoy or Parkinson. They took their seats, Ophelia spotted Gryffindors chatting about. She'd learned early to keep quiet in Slytherin House. If you talked, you'd have to talk about how awesome Who-Must-Not-Be-Named was. She remembered in her first year, when she'd spent time in the common room, and Malfoy had asked her if she was a pureblood. She'd lied, and said yes. Said her parents were foreign, and were joining forces soon enough. It certainly wasn't true. Her father was a Ravenclaw, and her mother a Gryffindor. Her father was a half blood, her mother was muggle born. It wasn't clear why Ophelia was in Slytherin; but her father had said that her grandmother was in Slytherin, too. But she was dead, and Ophelia had never known her. It was true enough that her parents were foreign. She was of Indian descent; you could see it in her pale coffee colored skin, and sparkly brown eyes.
Snape entered the room, promptly shooting unanswerable questions out at the Gryffindors; he had the vicinity of a viper. It was his Slytherin qualities, Ophelia could see. She knew he wasn't a death eater, but who would believe her? Perhaps the only reason the Gryffindors didn't hate her completely was because of her brother. Ophelia's brother, a fourth year, Adrian was a Gryffindor. A popular one at that.
Neville glanced around the room, nervously. It was due time that Snape would ask him some absurd question. But only, it wouldn't be absurd. It would be something that they legitimately learned, not some random fact in the depths of "1000 Magical Herbs and Fungi" that Snape would ask Harry, some fact that only Hermione would know.
"Longbottom. What is the antidote to poison in the goat's stomach called?" Snape asked, viciously smirking.
Neville sat there speechless. How did he not know this? Hadn't Snape asked Harry this tons of times? Neville thought about how Herbology came so much easier to him, his thoughts taking him away.
"Longbottom. I'm waiting for an answer. The whole class will wait till you can provide the correct answer." Snape remarked, clearing valuing Neville's torture more than teaching class.
Neville glanced around the classroom, his light brown eyes lingering on the clad of Slytherin students. He skirted about Malfoy, his usual stupid smirk highlighted with his daddy's boy blond hair. Parkinson dying of giggling. Crabbe and Goyle confused, as they were probably the only others in the class who didn't know the answer. His eyes quickly became fixated on something that he didn't usually look at. The sight of her intrigued her. Her expression was stone, but he could see that it could easily radiate happiness. Someone would just have to slowly ease it out of her. The depths of her brown eyes seemed very familiar.
"Bezoar, sir." Neville stuttered, slightly.
"I'm glad that the scarce wits you had come back to you, Longbottom." He smirked. "You've bound to fail that paper you turned in today."
Neville wanted badly to punch him; he wanted terribly to show the Gryffindor in him. He wanted to get up, and slap Snape right in the face. That wasn't courage though, he mustn't give in. As soon as fixed his eyes back on that Slytherin girl though, his anger quickly left. The softness of her features captured him. She didn't have a sharp nose like Snape or the other Slytherins. It was beautifully shaped. In fact, it looked rather familiar. Oh, right. She was Adrian sister. Ophelia was her name, if he remembered correctly. Yes, it fit her.
Neville immediately felt like punching himself, now. What was wrong with him? She was a Slytherin. He was a Gryffindor. He was the least brave, the most clumsy, and straight out unappealing one. He wasn't Dean or Ron, certainly not Harry. Not even Seamus. He was Neville, that boy who could harvest mandrakes without breaking a sweat, but didn't know how the hell to brew a forgetful potion.
The class ended about an hour after Snape interrogated Neville. He seemed nice, that Neville kid, Ophelia thought. But, she'd probably never be friends with him. He was a Gryffindor, after all. She'd tried to be friends with Parvati and Padma. Their parents were friends of her's. Parvati had automatically disliked her, but thought that her brother was a dear. Padma and her was alright friends, they talked occasionally. Ophelia could tell that Padma wondered deeply why she was in Slytherin, and that probably was why their friendship had never really grown. She banished these thoughts as she headed to Charms, again a double with Gryffindor. It was peculiar how she'd branched out to all these thoughts from thinking about Neville Longbotttom. Perhaps he'd be friends with her. She climbed the staircase that led to the Charms corridor, excitedly, she liked Charms, and Flitwick didn't care that she was in Slytherin.
Neville headed off Charms. It was an okay class; he never excelled, but never failed either. He brightened up his mood with the fact that after Charms and lunch, there was Herbology. As he walked into the room, his thoughts strayed from Herbology. He pondered the black haired girl with the sparkly brown eyes. Then he caught her eye, there she was, in this class too! How come he'd never noticed? There was something about those eyes, he thought. Perhaps he would talk to Ginny about it later.
Charms intrigued Ophelia's attention, her "Aguamenti" better than Hermione's, on the first attempt. As the lesson passed, Ophelia's mind whirred with delight, it had finally found something that challenged and delighted her. She was in a good mood as the lesson ended; it had been a very practical class. Nobody scrawled a word down on parchment, not even Hermione. Perhaps Hermione could see the utter wonder on Ophelia's face as she worked the charms, for as class ended Hermione struck up a conversation with Ophelia.
"That was a wicked 'Aguamenti' back there." Hermione commented, catching up with Ophelia.
"Thank You! Yours was impressive, too!" Ophelia said, smiling.
They conversed about the next charm that was being covered in the class, and how they both planned to take NEWT Charms next year. Neville caught up, having saw Hermione, but not Ophelia.
"Hey, Hermione! Did you do the Transfiguration work, yet?" He asked openly, no sign of a stutter, he was rather good friends with Hermione, after all.
"Ah, yes, Neville. Did you need help with it?" She asked, her wit in hand.
"Er, yeah." His words caught together, for he had just noticed Ophelia.
She smiled as he noticed her.
"Hello Neville! "She greeted, perhaps they were going to become friends, and she pondered.
"Oh, yes, err, Hullo, uh, how are you? "He stuttered back, it was her eyes, they were so captivating.
"I'm fine, and you? "Ophelia answered.
"Er, I'm good.". Neville answered.
Hermione smiled, she could totally sense Neville's nervous state. He clearly was entranced by her. Who would have thought? She made a mental note, of not to mention it to Ron, he'd be a git about it, and tell Neville not to trust Slytherins.
"Well, let's head to lunch?" Hermione asked. "Oh, and Ophelia! I've got excellent news! You know how I told you, that Adrian had asked Dumbledore if we could sit at whatever house tables we wanted? Well, we've got confirmation! You are welcome to sit with us, if you'd like."
"Oh, I'd like that. It's just that,er, well, nobody would be offended, right?" She asked, nervously, fingering her green and silver striped tie.
"No, they wouldn't. They certainly wouldn't." Hermione reassured.
They walked into the great hall. It seemed very different, to Neville, than when he saw it this morning. His thoughts had changed so much. He'd gained a new friend, in just a couple hours. Hogwarts has really got more than spells and enchantments, he thought. They sat at the Gryffindor table, it looked so much more loved than the Slytherin table, but the Slytherin had some kind of solitude that Ophelia had relished in. This was healthier for her though, she knew it. Gryffindors started pulling in to the table. Ophelia spotted her brother, who welcomed her with a huge smile and a half hug. She smirked a bit when she saw girls admiring his smile. The kid was too popular for his own good. He was a chaser on the Gryffindor team though, and quite good, at that.
Neville sat down at an empty seat, he noticed Ophelia exchanging a hug with her brother. They seemed happy to see each other, they probably rarely did. Dean sat next to him and they conversed about the previous Charms lesson, Neville noted how good Ophelia's 'Aguamenti' was, charms was definitely her affinity. She was good at potions, but it wasn't her thing. In fact, she was good at everything. Charms was her special talent though, like Herbology was Neville's. Neville wondered if Ophelia knew any charms that would help with the seed that Professor Sprout had imported for him. Perhaps he would ask her, if he ever gained the guts to talk to her.
Then, Neville shifted his attention to that happening presently. There was exactly one seat between himself and Hermione. Ophelia sat next to Hermione. He calculated this in his mind. That meant that Ophelia would be sitting next to him. She was sitting next to him. Those entrancing eyes were so close. Harry greeted her with a smile, he showed no bias towards her. It was probably because he'd heard a lot about her, from Adrian. Ron mumbled a 'hello', accompanied with a softer, 'why the hell are you here?'. Hermione glared at him, and Neville felt the urge to punch Ron. He could tell that Ophelia was a little hurt, but she didn't let it show. Instead she started to eat. She didn't try especially hard to be neat or impressive, she was just what was she was. She didn't particularly care about her company. He could see Parkinson flick her off, several times, she only responded with a lip synced, "fuck you", and a grim smirk accompanied with a perfect eyebrow raise. By, the time lunch was over, Neville had barely eaten anything, and he was too busy observing the seemingly perfect person next to him.