Disclaimer: I do not support Rowling's views. All Harry Potter characters and the Wizarding World, belong to her.

6 November 1994

The following week was almost as dreadful as the entire duration of Harry's second year when the majority of the school had suspected him of petrifying other students. It turned out that no Ravenclaws entered the Tournament in the first place, so Harry hoped they would support him and Cassius equally. Unfortunately, most Ravenclaws thought that Harry was desperate to earn himself a bit more fame by tricking the goblet into accepting his name. The Hufflepuffs on the other hand were still a bit upset that Cedric wasn't a champion, even though he was an adamant supporter for Cassius.

Harry thought he was used to the Slytherins usual bullying and vicious insults toward him, but becoming a champion was the final nail in the coffin. First and foremost, Harry was the boy-who-lived, otherwise known as Harry "attention-seeking" Potter to the Slytherins. Even worse, Harry was a Gryffindor and was also a contributor to the Slytherins losing in both Quidditch and the Inter-House Championship first and second year. Ophelia moving up from reserve Beater to the final roster helped Slytherin to victory last year, much to Oliver Wood's disappointment. Surmise it to say, stealing Cassius's thunder was much, much worse than two years' worth of losing the Inter-House Championship.

It also didn't help that much like his sister, Cassius was practically perfect. He supposedly earned all nine O.W.L.S. with high marks and would've made Quidditch captain if Quidditch wasn't cancelled for the Tournament. Rumour had it that Cassius was the reason why the Slytherin Quidditch team transformed from the brutish and rule-breaking team during Harry's first year to the evolved and cohesive team in his third year, leading Slytherin to win the Quidditch Cup. Even though Cassius was a Slytherin, he was impartial and fair—never abusing his prefect position against the other houses—unlike some of the other Slytherin prefects. To make matters even worse, he also looked the part of a champion so much more than Harry did; tall and handsome with dark hair and hazel eyes. Essentially, the only thing stopping everyone from supporting Cassius was house prejudice.

Meanwhile, there was no reply from Sirius, yet a peculiar letter dropped on Harry's head that Friday morning, Hedwig was still angry at him for using Pigwidgeon to send Sirius's letter. Harry didn't recognize the loopy cursive that spelled out his name on the envelope.

"Who'z tat fhrom?" Ron asked between bites of his egg.

Hermione glared at Ron from across the table, she hated when he talked with his mouthful.

"Not sure." Harry carefully opened the letter.

Sorry about the badges, I thought you deserved to know before we have Double Potions today.

—O.W.

"O.W.?" Harry asked. He passed the letter to Hermione and she scanned it over.

"It has to be someone in our Potions class. They said 'we'," Hermione slid the letter across the table so Harry and Ron could see.

"Badges? What do you reckon that means?" said Ron.

"I don't know, very ominous when you think about it," said Harry.

Hermione gasped. "It's so obvious! Warrington. She's the only other person than Ron to have a W as their last initial, and come to think of it, the only O first initial. But why would she want to warn you about badges?"

"Whatever it is, it can't be that bad. Right?" said Ron.

Harry nodded in agreement, but he had an inkling that they weren't prepared for what was to come.

"And, that's the last of it!" Draco dropped a badge onto his bed, clattering against the large pile, dropping some buttons onto the floor in the process.

Ophelia looked up from her latest issue of Witch Weekly. "I can't believe you actually finished. And that I actually helped you." She wrinkled her nose in distaste, peering down at the hundreds of badges with her brother's smiling face and luminous red letters that burnt brightly: SUPPORT CASSIUS WARRINGTON—THE REAL HOGWARTS CHAMPION! Throughout the past week, Draco had spent all of his free time perfecting the spells and making badges—forcing Blaise, Theo, and Ophelia to help him in the process.

"And I can't believe you actually read that trash! I thought you hated Witch Weekly," said Draco.

"But how else am I going to learn which professional Quidditch player I'm most compatible with?" She pouted, showing him the quiz she was taking.

He cocked an eyebrow but opted to not push the subject further, considering the current status of their friendship. Ever since their Care of Magical Creatures lesson on Monday, there was undoubtedly a shift between the two. Draco shook his head, why did he push her to her limits so easily?

"So..."

"Nope," Ophelia said, quickly shutting him down. "We agreed not to talk about it."

"But—"

"No."

Draco sighed and morosely transferred the buttons from his bed to a large basket that Theo transfigured.

After a few minutes, she set aside her magazine and began to help him. "Fine, you started this bet in the first place, what do you want to know?"

Draco grinned even though the thought of the bet brought about a pang of jealousy which he subsequently ignored. "How are you going to get Saint Potter to fall in love with you?"

"Haha, you should really be a comedian or something, Dra. Definitely some untapped potential there—" said Ophelia.

"Ophelia."

She clenched her jaw and glanced at Draco, her deflection tactics hardly worked on him. "If you stopped being an ass, I would be upfront about this stupid bet."

"Stupid? You're the one who made it more complicated! I just wanted you to try to hang out with Potter and his posse for a day. Not for you to try to go on a date with him," Draco retorted.

"Well, I'm sorry that I thought you would enjoy the higher stakes! I mean, you've always had a sadistic streak when it comes to him."

Not if it involves you, he wanted to say. "And you're sadistic towards me, so I have to find someone to go on a date with too," he said instead.

"It's only fair, isn't it?" Ophelia said. "You didn't have to agree to my proposition during Magical Creatures, Draco."

Draco felt like kicking himself. His attention-seeking self made such a show, there was no way that he could have declined her amendment to his bet in front of their friends and the Gryffindors. "You're right, I didn't. But I never back down from a challenge, do I?"

Ophelia stifled a laugh. "Sure, keep telling yourself that."

"Well then, I won't tell you who I'm going to ask out." He crossed his arms against his chest. In reality, Draco had no idea what he was doing. If it weren't for Potter's ogling eyes, the situation wouldn't have begun in the first place. A harmless dare evolved into a competition to who could first get a date for the next Hogsmeade trip of the school year.

Ophelia shrugged. "I kinda like the surprise if I'm honest."

He internally groaned. Damn her and her competitive streak. He should have been relieved that Ophelia would treat this as a game, but it still boiled down to her potentially going on a date with Potter out of all people. Unless he finds a date before her. "You're insufferable, you know?"

"So you keep telling me, but it's hard to believe when you're in the minority that say that."

He scoffed. "The minority that represents those that know you?"

A sly smile pulled at her lips. "Are you insinuating that you really know me?"

Just like you're the only one who really knows me.

Ophelia's eyes widened. "Oh."

Draco felt his heart skip a beat. "Did I—" but he cut himself short. Of course, he said it aloud, the expression on her face wouldn't have appeared any other way. "Uh, we should, er—put this in the common room." He hastily picked up the basket and walked out of the room, Ophelia calling after him.

Fuck.

Ophelia and Draco walked in silence towards the Great Hall for lunch, every step she took sounded loud, filling the dead air. Ophelia occasionally snuck glances at Draco from the corner of her eyes, but he only stared straight ahead, avoiding any potential eye contact.

Reaching the Slytherin table, Ophelia handed her bag to Blaise. "The badges are done." She took a seat in between him and Daphne.

"Ooo," said Blaise, excitedly sifting through her bag and dumping the badges onto the table. He picked one up and examined their collective work. Blaise pressed down on the badge and Cassius's face vanished to a young version of Harry, a moving photo they found from the Daily Prophet article about Harry and Lockhart before the beginning of their second year. Ophelia smiled, it was the same day when Lucius and Mr. Weasley fought in Flourish and Blotts. The words were replaced with green letters: POTTER STINKS. "We did a good job!"

"We?" Draco questioned, sitting across from Blaise.

"Rude, I definitely helped! I found the photo of Potter." Blaise pressed down on the badge and Cassius's face returned once again.

While Draco and Blaise continued to bicker, Daphne discreetly began a conversation with Ophelia. "What's with the two of you? When you walked in you had that far away look you get when you're thinking about something that will put a spanner to your plans."

Ophelia went about plating her food and took a bite of her ham and cheese sandwich. "I have a love, hate relationship with your ability to read me like an open book."

Daphne laughed. "I think I've finally cracked the surface of the Slytherin princess."

Ophelia glared at Daphne while she chewed her food, the etiquette lessons she grew up taking still had a lasting effect. Although Ophelia frequently abandoned manners when she was in a half-asleep stupor—fully coherent, a little voice in the back of her mind told her to remain graceful and poised regardless of the subject discussed with a guest. Ophelia was acutely aware that that inner voice was very similar to Madame Moran. "We should talk about it later."

"I was messing with you, but now you've piqued my interest," said Daphne. "What could be this mysterious? It can't be what I think it is."

To show Daphne the extent of the situation at hand, Ophelia slipped into a theatrical performance for an audience of one. "Hey, Dra. Can you hand over the water pitcher, please?"

"Sure." He reached across the table and offered the pitcher, eyes looking at everything but her.

Taking it from him, Ophelia purposefully brushed Draco's hand as he let go of the pitcher. Nobody but Ophelia and Daphne noticed him slightly flinch at the contact and the slight furrow of his eyebrows as he went back to his conversation with Blaise, and now Pansy and Tracey.

"Well that's new," Daphne said quietly while Ophelia filled her cup.

The conversation between her and Draco played back in her mind. "Definitely new." Ophelia felt eyes on her and looked up. Instead of the grey eyes she was secretly hoping for, she had to scan the room until she locked gazes with a not-so-subtle Harry at the opposite side of the Great Hall.

Daphne followed Ophelia's path of focus. "Is the bet still on?"

"Yeah," Ophelia said.

Daphne and Ophelia watched Harry awkwardly raise a hand for a wave, but at the last second, grabbed his cup to drink from instead.

Daphne grinned. "This is going to go so terribly."

"You don't have to remind me," Ophelia groaned.

"And where's the fun in that?" said Daphne.

Ophelia rolled her eyes, but deep down she had to admit that she liked this change to her monotonous schedule of school, eat, sleep, and repeat.

Does that make me a bad person?

Feelings were involved now, and nothing good ever happens when emotions have a say. Why else would she repress her feelings for Drace for this long? Why else would she avoid the fluttering feelings she had when she looked into Draco's eyes for one second too long? Whatever Ophelia felt, she considered it trivial in comparison to the impending Dark Lord on the horizon. And if there's one thing she could control, she was definitely going to hold on to that with a death grip. With her rationale, why wouldn't she go along with this twisted game?

Draco handed out spare buttons to the other Slytherins at the table who hadn't taken one from the Slytherin common room yet, and they left lunch before Harry. As they stood outside of Severus's classroom waiting for the Gryffindors to arrive, Ophelia examined the badge she had pinned to her robes, the luminous red letters casting a glow on her face in the dungeon hallway.

Unusually pensive, Ophelia ran through the various scenarios she had created over the past week on how to ask Harry out on a date, but every single idea was painfully embarrassing to some degree. Considering herself to be quite the conversationalist, Ophelia was at a loss. Hogsmeade weekend was in two weeks, the weekend before the first task. Not to mention she felt an inkling of guilt at the thought of playing with Harry's emotions.

Ophelia sighed, all she wanted to do was dive headfirst into her potions book and brew the antidote recipe Severus assigned to them last week, Potions was more therapeutic than stressful as of late.

The sound of footsteps and lively chatter carried from the far end of the corridor and Draco perked up at the noise, resituating himself. Ophelia couldn't help but think of how much Draco resembled an actor preparing for his big scene. Maybe she and Cassius shouldn't have let him watch too many Muggle movies.

"Like them, Potter?" Draco said loudly as Harry approached. "And this isn't all they do."

He pressed his badge into his chest and Harry's face appeared, the green letters of POTTER STINKS less bright than the previous red. Ophelia watched Harry's confusion turn into recognition, tying together what her cryptic message to him meant. Similar looks of realization dawned on Granger and Weasley's faces.

Most of her friends snickered at the Gryffindors bafflement, also pressing their badges too until the message POTTER STINKS was shining brightly.

"Oh very funny, really witty," Granger said sarcastically.

Weasley puffed out his chest. "Who are you to talk about stinks, Malfoy? You're the one that smells like you spilled a whole bottle of cologne on yourself."

Draco rolled his eyes. "Says the person who can't even afford it, I'm surprised you even know what cologne is." Draco held up spare badges to show Granger and Weasley. "I was going to offer you these, I've got loads. I was feeling considerate, you see; sharing is caring, you know." Draco looked down at his wrist, pretending to look at a watch. "Aw, but would you look at that, the moment's passed."

Despite the ridiculousness of the entire interaction, Ophelia couldn't but giggle under her breath, Draco never failed to get the last word in. And for once it was in a rather unproblematic way. Well, as unproblematic as economic disparities can be.

However, Draco's pettiness sparked some of the anger Harry most likely had built up over the past week. Before she knew it, Harry had reached for his wand. Gryffindors and Slytherins alike scrambled out of the way, backing down the corridor.

"Harry!" Hermione said warningly.

"Go on, then, Potter," Draco said quietly, drawing out his own wand. "Moody's not here to look after you now—do it, if you've got the guts—"

"Draco, come on," said Blaise. He tried to pull him away.

For a split second, Harry and Draco looked into each other's eyes, then, at exactly the same time, both acted.

"Furnunculus!" Harry yelled.

"Densaugeo!" screamed Draco.

Jets of light shot from both wands, hit each other in midair and ricocheted off at angles. A flash of light blinded Ophelia. The light subsided, but Ophelia felt painful pricks on her face. She carefully touched her face, boils were springing up at a rapid pace.

"Lia!"

Draco rushed forward to see what was wrong with her while the other Slytherins crowded around the two. He examined Ophelia with a worried face, quickly feeling guilty that she was hurt as a result of his juvenile actions.

"Are you okay? It looks like it hurts," said Theo.

The others murmur with agreement.

Ophelia laughed. "Is it really that bad?"

Pansy snorted. "Yeah, but obviously, you're impervious to pain."

"Well, having multiple Bludgers to the face does something to a person," Ophelia joked, but she felt more boils spread down towards her jaw and neck, making it uncomfortable to talk.

"And what is all this noise about?" said a soft, deadly voice.

Severus had opened his classroom door to two rowdy parties. The Slytherins clamored to give their explanations; Snape pointed a finger at Draco. "Explain. "

"Potter attacked me, sir—"

"We attacked each other at the same time!" Harry shouted.

"—and he hit Lia—look—"

The Slytherins parted ways and revealed Ophelia to Severus. Ophelia could see his face slightly darken. "It's not that ba—"

Severus interrupted her. "Hospital Wing, Miss Warrington," he said in an eerily calm tone.

"Malfoy got Hermione!" Weasley said. "Look!"

Weasley forced Granger to show Snape her teeth, she was doing her best to hide them with her hands, though this was difficult as they had now grown down past her collar. Ophelia noticed Pansy, Tracey, and Millie begin to laugh, and she sent them a cautionary look. To which the three quickly abandoned their pretension.

Snape looked coldly at Granger. Ophelia knew Severus wasn't that fond of Granger, he considered her go-getter eagerness to speak in class a form of disrespect rather than an academic accolade. Ophelia had to explain to him that Muggles were taught that active participation was usually encouraged. "I'll take Granger to the Hospital Wing with me, Professor," said Ophelia.

He focused back on Ophelia, giving her a curt nod.

She approached Granger. "C'mon," Ophelia said softly.

Ophelia began walking away, Granger following a few feet behind. As soon as they were far enough from their classmates, Ophelia turned to look at Granger, she was still holding her hands in front of her mouth. "Are you okay?"

Granger sniffled. "I think so."

Although her teary eyes said otherwise, Ophelia didn't press the subject further. As they walked in companionable silence, Granger finally set her hands aside. "Thank you."

"For what?" Ophelia asked.

"For making all of this easier. We both know it could've been worse. Warning Harry about the badges, stopping your friends from laughing, Malfoy, Snape..."

"It was the right thing to do, Granger," said Ophelia.

"And not a lot of people do the right thing," Granger replied.

She only knew Granger from a distance, Hermione 'Know-it-all' Granger. But speaking with her made Ophelia realize that Granger was more than she seemed. Ophelia reprimanded herself. From the girl that had different personas, she shouldn't judge someone based on their outward personality. With the thoughtful look on Granger's face, she was thinking the same thing of Ophelia.

When Ophelia and Granger entered the empty Hospital Wing, Madam Pomfrey was surprised to see them. "Granger, this is a surprise, you're usually a visitor of patients, not a patient yourself! Warrington, this is different, you're usually in here for Quidditch injuries."

Ophelia laughed. "That's true! We were unfortunately caught in the crossfire, Madam Pomfrey."

"Oh my," said Madam Pomfrey, taking a closer look at both Ophelia and Granger's injuries. "Take a seat while I go find the potion for those boils."

They took seats on opposing beds, facing each other. For the first time, Ophelia finally saw the full effect of Draco's spell. "I'm sorry about the spell."

Hermione furrowed her brows. "Why should you feel sorry? It wasn't you that cast it."

She grimaced. "Well, it might as well have been me. Draco learned it because of me."

"What?" said Hermione, the question bordered more on an exclamation.

Unfortunately, Madam Pomfrey returned, preventing Ophelia from elaborating any further. She handed Ophelia a blue potion in a small bottle. "You'll need to drink all of this. But since you have a rather nasty case, Warrington, I'll need you to stay for a few hours, you might need another dose."

"Thank you, Madam Pomfrey," Ophelia said.

Ophelia downed the potion in one gulp, grimacing at the rancid aftertaste. Thankfully she began to feel a slight tingle on her face, the potion taking an effect.

Madam Pomfrey turned to her other patient, handing Granger a small hand mirror. "Granger, this will be an easy fix. The Shrinking Charm should do the job just fine. Now, tell me when your teeth are back to their normal size, and I'll end the spell."

Granger eyed Ophelia, still concerned about their conversation.

"Ready, Granger?" Madam Pomfrey asked.

Ophelia noticed Granger wringing her hands, then gave Madam Pomfrey a small nod.

"Reducio."

It was fascinating to watch Granger's teeth recede back to their size. Imperceptible to Madam Pomfrey, Ophelia swore that Granger let the spell go longer than it should have.

"It's normal now, Madam Pomfrey," Granger said quickly.

Madam Pomfrey lowered her wand and examined her work. "You can stay for a bit in case you feel any pain. Haven't seen that spell in a long time, everyone has a different reaction to it. I'll be in my office if the two of you need anything." She smiled and left Ophelia and Granger alone.

Ophelia watched Granger stare at herself in the hand mirror, entranced. "They were fine before, Granger."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Granger stammered.

She sighed. It was simultaneously annoying and disheartening that someone like Hermione Granger couldn't see how wonderful they actually are. "I can tell that you aren't told this often, Granger, but you're stunning. Teeth, hair, brain, and all. You're a better person than at least half the students here, and not to mention a better witch. Don't listen to what other people think of you."

Granger blushed. "I—um, thank you?"

"You're welcome."

She set aside the mirror. "What were you talking about before?"

"That, right. Draco knew that spell because of me."

"How? I don't think I've read about it before. And I've read a lot of things," said Granger frankly.

Ophelia smirked. "Well, it is a hex. I don't think you dabble in dark magic that often."

Granger's eyes enlarged.

The latter chuckled. "Merlin, Granger, I'm joking. You and Potter don't help the assumption that all Gryffindors are gullible. I used the hex on Draco when we were young, I guess he learned it after all."

"Young? How? Did you use a wand?"

"Nope, purely accidentally. One of my first uses of magic actually. You see, I had just lost both of my front teeth. Draco persistently made fun of me for at least a week until I was finally fed up. I think he was in the middle of an insult when his teeth began to enlarge. Worse than yours today, it went all the way past his shoulders," Ophelia laughed.

Granger giggled too. Ophelia was glad that she was able to put her in a better mood. To Ophelia's dismay, the Muggle-born dealt with too much public ridicule because of her friends.

Ophelia continued, "We were both baffled as to why his teeth kept on growing. And I said 'Well, I guess you have teeth big enough for the both of us!'"

"No! You didn't really say that, did you?" Granger exclaimed.

"I swear I did! After his teeth went back to normal, he wouldn't talk to me for a week. The best part was that even though I used magic on him, Draco's parents made him apologize for making fun of me."

"Wow."

"What can I say, I'm quite the charmer, Granger."

"You can call me Hermione, you know. That's one of the things I miss about Muggle school, there are so many formalities here."

"Hermione, since I'm on a benevolent streak right now, I'm going to let you in on a little secret," Ophelia said.

"Um, sure?"

"When Snape asks a question for the class, he doesn't want you raising your hand to answer."

"But—"

Ophelia interrupted her, "But what if nobody else knows the answer? Then he'll ask someone like you who does. When professors ask questions, they usually call on someone they want to answer, sort of like an informal assessment to see if certain people are paying attention or actually doing the readings and whatnot. It's like you said so yourself, there are many formalities here in the wizarding world."

"Shit—" Hermione realized what she said and stopped short.

Ophelia burst into laughter, to which Hermione reddened.

"Sorry! I just never thought about it that way! When you put it into your perspective, of course, I seem ignorant and unthoughtful! Magic is like another culture and I should've been respecting that. I must have been like a Brit visiting France, oh no. Over three years and I never wondered why I wasn't called on. I just thought it was because he hated me or because I was a Gryffindor." Hermione paused. "Agh, I'm rambling again, aren't I?"

Ophelia raised a brow. "By all means, please continue. It's rather nice to hear you ramble about something other than facts you read in Hogwarts: A History or another book along the same vein."

"Is that insensitive too?" Hermione said worriedly.

"Not at all, only slightly annoying. No offense."

Hermione chuckled. "None taken. It's a habit I've been unlearning since I was in primary school. Wait, so should I just stop raising my hand in class? That'll take quite a while to unlearn as well."

Ophelia shook her head. "Not necessarily. Since they have been more Muggles attending Hogwarts over the years, most professors don't mind adopting Muggle customs. Snape, Binns, and sometimes McGonagall are the ones who are sticklers for that. You do know you're one of McGonagall's favorites, right?"

"McGonagall? Favorites? Not at all! She's as unbiased as they come," Hermione argued.

"She is, but there's sometimes a little twinkle in McGonagall's eyes when you speak. It's pride," Ophelia smiled.

Hermione was speechless. Ophelia could practically see the gears turning in Hermione's brain, processing all of the information that Ophelia dumped on to her.

"Besides, why else would she give you a Time Turner last year if you weren't one of her favorites?"

"How do you even know about that?" said Hermione, completely aghast at Ophelia's knowledge of a well-kept secret.

Ophelia recalled a conversation she had with Severus last year about a Time Turner. "Well, you're not the only student with a professor on their side."

"Is it true then? That Snape is yours and Malfoy's godfather?"

Ophelia internally laughed. That rumor was one of her favorites about herself. It was neither controversial nor trivial. And it was something that she, Cassius, and Draco loved to bother Severus about. "Unfortunately he's not, but he practically is a godfather to us. Even to my brother too."

Hermione smiled. "It's so weird to think of Malfoy and Snape as...nice?"

Ophelia snorted, then instantly covered her mouth with a hand, dissolving into another laugh. "Oh wow, sorry about that! Madame Moran would kill all of us with the way we act at school."

"Madame Moran?"

"An etiquette teacher we had growing up, one of the best teachers in all of Wizarding Europe. When we were eight, a lot of these pureblood parents sent us alone to France for the summer for an extended lesson with Madame. We all came back with proficient French and even more exquisite manners."

"Eight years old! My parents made me take an etiquette lesson once when I was young, but they wouldn't send me off to another country at that age! Let alone for etiquette out of all things," Hermione said.

Ophelia didn't know why she was disclosing so much of her life to Hermione. For someone who prided herself in being the poster child of calm, cool, and mysterious, Ophelia found that it was easy talking to Hermione. Maybe it was because the Muggle-born didn't know much about Ophelia's personal life that she felt comfortable talking about anything with her. She felt like she could trust the Gryffindor full-heartedly, something very uncharacteristic for Ophelia. "I thought the same thing! It took a lot of bribery on my parents' behalf to make me go. They wanted me to ease into British pureblood society seamlessly. Going on a trip with all of these pureblood children seemed like the right move. But you know, they bought me my first camera because of that trip."

"I've been wanting to ask you about that since last week. I didn't think you would have an interest in Muggle cameras."

"I recall overhearing that conversation rather well. What was it you said? I didn't even know someone like her would even know anything Muggle-related," Ophelia cocked an eyebrow.

"Warrington, I—well..."

"Hermione, I'm not offended," Ophelia said, stifling a laugh. Opposed to her conversations with Harry, Ophelia didn't have the urge to banter with Hermione in the same way. "I don't blame you for thinking ill of me, I am Draco Malfoy's best friend. And an addendum to Snape, I don't blame you for, what's a better word for it, disliking him. Both of them, actually. Draco and Snape, are interesting, to say the least. They are horrendous, but they have some redeeming qualities. And if I extend this conversation any further, they'll curse me. Well, unless I do it first." Ophelia winked.

"You know Warrington, I can see why Harry—" The Clock Tower chimed, interrupting Hermione's response. "It's 2:15? I should head back, we were supposed to be brewing antidotes today and I don't think Snape would let me make it up."

"That sounds about right." Ophelia laughed.

Hermione grabbed her bag and began to head out. "Can you tell Madam Pomfrey that I left?"

"Of course."

Hermione nodded. "Again, thank you for everything. I, um, would probably still be very upset about this if it weren't for you."

"It's the least I could do."

"And I'm pretty sure Harry is going to find a way to make this up to you. I'm certain he feels terrible about cursing you."

Ophelia gave Hermione a solemn smile. "It's equally Draco's fault as it is, Potter's. If they just stopped their petty rivalry, our lives would be considerably less stressful."

"You can say that again. We should talk again, I surprisingly enjoyed it," said Hermione.

"I feel the same way, see you around Granger."

When Hermione finally left, Ophelia's smile turned into a smirk. Even though the unfortunate circumstance that she was in led to obscene boils on her face, which were still slowly beginning to vanish, the situation managed to turn in her favor.

Now, how should I thank Draco for winning this bet for me?

Why am I such an asshole?

Draco listlessly stared into his cauldron, watching his antidote boil and brew.

The classroom felt rather empty with Ophelia and Granger missing even though there were seventeen other people in the room. Although it was reasonable since the two girls were the ones that answered Snape's questions the most.

Over the years, Ophelia has attempted to teach Draco how to read Snape, but the man was nearly impenetrable and it was a feat Draco was never able to achieve. Yet when Snape's eyes met Draco's, Draco finally noticed a sliver of Snape's emotions, irritation. Not only with Potter, but Draco himself.

He didn't blame him, it was partially his fault Ophelia was in the Hospital Wing. It was only the Furnunculus Curse, but it could've been worse. He didn't know what he would do if Ophelia was worse off because of him.

A timid knock on the dungeon door startled everyone in the room. It was Granger; she promptly walked up to Snape's desk at the front of the room.

While the two quietly conversed, Draco turned to face Daphne behind him. "Why is she back and Lia isn't?"

Daphne rolled her eyes. "Because teeth are easier to fix than boils. Lia is going to be fine, Madam Pomfrey knows what she's doing."

"She better. Otherwise, I'll tell my father and that woman will be out of a job," Draco sneered.

Next to him, Blaise harshly cleared his throat.

He whipped his head to Blaise. "What, Blaise?"

Blaise snorted. "You don't even try to hide it anymore."

Draco narrowed his eyes. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Mhm, sure you don't," Theo murmured.

"Et tu, Theo?" Draco groaned. "If we're beginning an exposé, then I don't mind revealing your secret as well." He shifted his eyes from Theo to Daphne, then back to Theo.

Daphne only raised a brow but chose to ignore the boy's conversation. "Draco, no matter what you do to try to hide that you're in love with Ophelia, it won't work on us." She snickered. "You're hopelessly devoted to her."

"You did not just use a Grease reference right now, Greengrass," Draco said with disdain.

She shrugged. "What can I say, I love musicals."

"You mean you love John Travolta?" Blaise added.

"Yeah, that too." Daphne laughed.

While Daphne and Blaise continued to compare opinions on Muggle actors, Draco noticed Granger alone in the front of the class gathering potion ingredients.

Draco abruptly backed out of his stool, the loud scraping startled the Slytherins, and he headed straight for Granger.

"Hey," Draco muttered.

She flinched. "Oh my god, Malfoy, shouldn't you know better than to sneak up on people like that."

All he had to do was ask Granger one question without starting an argument. He took a deep breath. "Is Ophelia alright? I mean, is she okay, did Madam Pomfrey heal her?"

Granger looked at Draco with a slight tilt to her head, as if she was seeing something that she hadn't before.

He clenched his jaw. "Are you just going to stare at me all day, Granger? Because the longer you stare, the less time you have to make your stupid antidote. At the very least it takes 40 minutes to prep and 30 minutes to brew. Aw, and there are only 75 minutes left in class."

She cleared her throat. "Right, um. She's fine. Madam Pomfrey gave her one dose of an antidote and it was already taking an effect when I left. She wanted her to stay while she's healing in case she needed another dose."

Draco felt a weight left from his chest, a heaviness that weighed him down the second Ophelia was cursed. Was he overreacting? She has had worse injuries than a simple boils curse.

Because she's there because of you.

"She doesn't blame just you. It takes two people to duel," Granger said, then left Draco with more questions than he had approached her with.

A/N: Hello everyone! I'm so happy to be updating because classes have been an absolute bish. I've had a bit of a break before midterms, so I'm glad I was able to post this. I'm hoping to get one more chapter in before the end of this month so I'm crossing my fingers! Otherwise, the timing of these chapters might happen in real-time. And I'm really liking the sound of having the Yule Ball drop on Christmas day hmmm.

I hope everyone is having a good October, and that you enjoyed this update!

Next chapter: Cassius update and some cute Cassius/Viktor/Fleur banter, oh and the actual weighing of the wands hehe

Contains content from Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

Chapter 18: They Weighing of the Wands