Disclaimer: I do not support Rowling's views. All Harry Potter characters and the Wizarding World, belong to her.
"Oh, she nearly got it! Careful now–and yes, she got it! She got the egg!" Ludo Bagman shouted gleefully.
Thalia loosened the grip she had on Ophelia's hand and pulled Manon into a crushing hug. Their best friend came out mostly unscathed, only the sleeve of her jersey was slightly singed.
"Can I say, I love her? She put a dragon under an enchanted slumber. Do you know how hard that is? Even some of the best dragon keepers can't do that!" Ophelia exclaimed.
"She's been practising non-stop on the Abraxans we brought ever since she found out about the dragons," Manon whispered.
She recalled a mental image of an Abraxan, it was a large enough creature to replicate a similar effect. "Hm, that's a good practice target."
The dragon keepers carefully removed the Welsh Green and its eggs and replaced them with Feifei and the fake Chinese Fireball dragon eggs, the golden egg standing out against the crimson ones. With all of the people watching her, Feifei became agitated, baring her teeth and crouching into the eggs.
"And here comes Mr. Warrington!" Bagman cried.
She internally gasped.
No way.
Ophelia hardly believed in luck, but Cassius was one lucky bastard.
She grabbed one of Daphne's hands and one of Thalia's, then she scooted to the edge of her seat. Even though Thalia was nearly as worried as her, it was her brother, of course, she was scared for him.
Daphne groaned in pain. "Lia, loosen your grip a little."
"Sorry!" She held their hands more conscientiously.
Cassius emerged from the same entrance as Viktor and Fleur. The setting sun must have hit his eyes since he brought a hand up to his forehead. Cassius looked up and around the stadium. He must have recognized Thalia and Ophelia because he waved in their direction.
"Oh my god, Cas," Ophelia muttered. "Stop being an idiot and focus on the task!" She yelled at him.
The stands were quiet with anticipation that nearly everyone heard her. Everyone, herself included, laughed at her statement. She couldn't care less about her 'image', Cassius taking the task seriously was more important.
"Words of encouragement from his sister, Miss Warrington!" Bagman hollered.
Ophelia refrained from speaking loudly again. "I wouldn't call that encouragement," Ophelia remarked.
Cassius focused on Feifei at the other end of the enclosure. Her twenty-foot length coiled around the nest of eggs. He pulled something out of his pocket, then set it on the ground. Whatever it was, it was too small to see from the stands. He pointed his wand at the object and cast a spell. A circle of icy blue light emanated from the tip of the wand. In the spot that Cassius placed his item, a dragon began to grow until it was the size of a baby Chinese Fireball.
"Well I'll be damned," Bagman yelled. "Oh sorry! It appears that Mr. Warrington has used his model dragon that the champions were given earlier, and is using it for the task! If I'm not mistaken, I think he used the Engorgement Charm to enlarge the model. What is he going to do with it?"
Ophelia smirked. He wasn't using the plan he devised for Feifei, but this new method that was unfolding before her was even better. She was already connecting the dots of what he wanted to do with the little dragon.
"What do you think he's going to do?" Daphne asked her.
"He's probably going to use it to lure the dragon away from the nest. Since she doesn't know the model dragon, she'll be curious as to who is trying to approach her and her 'babies'," Ophelia replied.
She didn't necessarily want to call Feifei by her name in case someone was listening in on their conversation. It would be rather suspicious if she knew too much about the dragons. With a quick search of her family history in a textbook, her knowledge of the subject would make sense, but not everyone would go to that length.
Cassius levitated the now enlarged model dragon and sent it towards the far right corner of the enclosure. Interested, Feifei rushed to the model dragon, more concerned by another dragon over a human.
"It now appears that he has used some sort of Locomotion Charm–and he is now making a break towards the nest!" Bagman bellowed.
Cassius ran across the enclosure, shrinking the boulders in his way in order to make his dash easier for himself.
However, Feifei noticed her 'eggs' in danger. She grabbed the model dragon by her mouth and flew back towards her nest, stopping Cassius in his tracks.
Ophelia released her grasp on Daphne and Thalia, and gripped onto the railing in front of her, leaning over the stands to see the action in front of her. "I wish I had some omnioculars!" Ophelia said over rowdy cheers.
She felt a tap on her shoulder and she quickly turned around. Blaise offered her exactly what she was hoping for. Ophelia gladly took it from him. "Thanks, Blaise, you're a lifesaver."
As she looked through them to take a closer look at Cassius out on the field, deep down she knew that it wasn't Blaise that conveniently had a pair. Ophelia ignored that feeling and focused on her brother.
Cassius fastened his wand back to his holster, then he cautiously approached Feifei, both hands in the air.
Feifei placed the model dragon to the ground, opting to confront Cassius instead.
Although Ophelia couldn't see Cassius's face, she could tell by Feifei that he was speaking to her in Japanese, using the language that could get through to the dragon. From the widening of Feifei's eyes, it was working.
"Merlin, I think Mr. Warrington is talking to his dragon!" Bagman exclaimed.
Cassius raised a hand and Feifei lowered her head to him. He scratched underneath her chin, and she nuzzled into his touch.
Around her people chattered away, shocked that he was able to tame a dragon. Ophelia only chuckled, he had a massive advantage that he not only knew the dragon he was 'taming', but that the dragon in question was relatively passive so long as you didn't purposefully act with malicious intent.
While he continued to pet her, Feifei began to hover a few feet above the ground. With every step he took towards the nest, Feifei followed closely behind–her tail wagging in the air–Cassius still scratching under her chin.
Cassius carefully picked up the golden egg and raised it to Feifei's snout. She must have felt the different material of the egg because she recoiled from it.
"Look at that!" Bagman was yelling. "Will you look at that! Our first Hogwarts champion is the quickest so far to get his egg! And without a scuff of dirt on him! How will Harry Potter follow that performance from Mr. Warrington?"
Ophelia didn't even wait to watch the dragon keepers take Feifei away, she exited the stands as quickly as she could, but the rowdy area of Slytherins that she was in made it hard. The jumping and noise of the crowd only made her heartbeat faster as she ran down the stairs.
She looked around for any indication of where Cassius would be. As she was about to enter a tent, Draco exited it. It was the first time they crossed paths since their fight. They had identical class schedules, but they hadn't sat with each other at all the past two days, nor did they see each other at meals. Even when they fought, they had an unspeakable understanding of one another.
Draco avoided directly looking at her, but he held open the tent flap for her. Ophelia brushed his shoulder as she walked past him into the tent. It took nearly everything in her entire being to avoid the searing heat on her skin where they made physical contact.
She looked back to the tent entrance, she could still see the outline of Draco's frame. He raised his hand as if he was going to open the flaps, but it hung in the air, unsure. She thought it was rather uncharacteristic of him. The way that he was respecting his end of the bet was praiseworthy, but Ophelia was truly expecting him to act like he usually would–stubborn and unrelenting.
She wanted him to be angry or show an ounce of resentment, yet all he showed was resignation. And to that, she was proud of him, extremely proud. A sign that he was more than the impulsive boy that she met all those years ago, even though she always knew that Draco was more than what he believed himself to be.
So she turned away. For now, there were other more important things to do than deal with her emotions.
"Well, look at you champ, spotless compared to your competitors," Ophelia said smoothly.
Cassius glanced at his new visitor. He was hoping she didn't run into Draco, but from her reserved attitude, it was clear that they crossed paths. Instead of addressing their issues, he broke into a broad smile. "Pleasure seeing you here, Sis."
He tossed the golden egg at her and she caught it with ease. "All of that effort, just to get this stupid thing."
He laughed while she turned the egg over in her hands, trying to see what could possibly be unique about it.
"Have you tried opening it yet?" Ophelia questioned, showing him the grooves that ran along the egg.
"Not yet, I didn't want to mess with anything."
Madam Pomfrey came by his bed and gave him a once over. "You're clear to go and get your score, Warrington. Thank goodness the three of you so far have little to no injuries. Potter on the other hand…we'll have to wait and see."
She shook her head, then left them for the next section of the tent. "How does it feel now, Krum?"
Still holding the egg, Ophelia left the tent and he followed closely behind.
"You did great, Cas. I personally think the three of you are evenly matched, but the scores have been questionable from some judges, to say the least. Viktor did this cool thing where he transfigured a rock and turned it into a dog. His dragon caught on though so he hit it with a Conjunctivitis Curse–unfortunately, he got a burn on his face in the process. They took some marks off for that. Oh! And Fleur used this bewitched sleep charm, but her dragon snorted out a little flame while she was sleeping. Her sleeve was slightly singed, but I don't think she got hurt."
They reached the edge of the enclosure. At the top of the stands, Cassius could see the judges sitting in seats draped in gold.
Madame Maxime raised her wand in the air. A long silver ribbon shot out of it, which twisted itself into a large figure nine.
"Same score she gave Fleur," Ophelia explained as the crowd applauded.
Cassius snickered. "I suppose she doesn't want to give me a higher score."
Crouch came next, he shot a number six into the air, to which the crowd responded with boos.
"Shit, he's been pretty harsh, but that's the lowest score he's given yet. You were practically flawless Cas," Ophelia said, her voice dripping with disdain.
Dumbledore put up a ten. The crowd was cheering louder than ever.
"What the fuck," Cassius whispered.
Ophelia's eyes widened and she wrapped an arm around his shoulder. "I guess that'll make up for it!"
Somehow Dumbledore found where he and Ophelia were. Even though they were a great distance away, Cassius swore that Dumbledore looked at him with kind eyes and a small smile.
Ophelia followed his gaze. "Huh."
He nodded. "Huh indeed."
Next, Ludo Bagman sent up his score, eight.
"Better than Viktor and Fleur though," she muttered under her breath.
And now Karkaroff raised his wand. He paused for a moment, then shot a number out of his wand too–six.
"You're in the lead, Cas!" Ophelia exclaimed.
Cassius was taken aback. "What?"
"Viktor and Fleur are tied with 38 points, and you have 39! I'm surprised Karkaroff didn't give you a five so you would be tied with them. He gave Fleur a moderate score too, but maybe he changed his mind after Crouch gave that extremely low score. Maybe he's not so bad after all," said Ophelia.
They headed back to the first aid tent to find Viktor, Fleur, and a few other additions.
Thalia flung her arms around him and pulled him into a strong hug.
Cassius chuckled. He pulled her closer then kissed Thalia on the top of her head. "I should enter deadly tournaments all the time if you're going to act like this every time you see me."
Thalia scoffed and withdrew herself from him. "That's really the first thing you're going to say to me?"
He pursed his lips.
It's never too soon to say it when you're in a death tournament.
"Hm, how about…I love you."
A gasp came from the others.
Thalia flushed and looked back at Manon and Fleur, shocked looks on their faces. On the other hand, Ophelia only smirked, his sister knew him well enough to know that he has practically been in love with Thalia since the beginning.
Thalia subsequently took a hold of his hand and forced him out of the tent, leading them a few feet away from the prying ears of her best friends. She stared up at him with those blue eyes that captivated him from the first day that he saw her. Funnily enough, it was the only thing in focus from the photo that began their journey in the first place.
Cassius smiled. He truly did love her with his entire being.
Thalia must have noticed the sincerity on his face. She began to smile too. "I love you, Cassius Warrington."
His smile grew wider until his cheeks began to hurt, that hardly mattered to him. "And I love you, Thalia Galanis."
After curfew hit, the Slytherins from years four through seven slowly snuck out of the castle in small groups towards the Durmstrang ship. An impromptu celebration of the first task ending was organised over dinner between the Slytherins and the two other schools. The Durmstrang students convinced a disgruntled Karkaroff to spend the night at Hogsmeade after a compelling argument that he deserved a night away from the ship. For Beauxbatons, they didn't even have to find a way to distract their headmistress, Madame Maxime was nowhere to be found after dinner. If they had to guess, she was presumably with Hagrid.
Out of habit, Ophelia cast a quick detection charm on her drink before she took a large gulp of her second pint of mead of the night–better to be safe than sorry. She smiled as the warmth of the mead ran through her system, ecstatic to have something different. Ophelia always thought that butterbeer was too sweet for her taste.
With the combination of the ship rocking on the water and the alcohol, Ophelia had to carefully tread her way back to her friends from the drinks table.
She slipped past dancing Slytherin, Durmstrang, and Beauxbatons students, finally reaching her group of friends.
Daphne hastily hugged her, some of the butterbeer that Daphne was drinking spilled onto the wooden deck. "Lia! Merlin, where have you been?" Daphne's cheeks were more flushed than when she left a few minutes ago.
A boisterous laugh escaped her. She wrapped an arm around her best friend. "I was getting another drink!" She raised her pint glass in the air.
Daphne giggled, stumbled into a seat on a bench, then laughed even more.
Ophelia turned to Theo. "How much has she had?" She mouthed to him.
He held up two fingers.
She suppressed a snicker. Daphne was always somewhat of a lightweight.
The music that was playing from an amplified wireless radio stopped. At the helm of the ship, Gabriel Baudelaire raised a glass of firewhisky in the air. "To our three champions here! I don't know how Potter got more points than all of you–"
He was interrupted by a chorus of boos from the crowd.
Gabriel chuckled. "BUT! But, you survived a fucking dragon, donc faisons la fête! Let's party!"
The music picked up once again, a new Weird Sisters song brought nearly everyone to their feet.
Ophelia took a hasty swig of her mead.
"What's with the long face, dear sister?"
She rolled her eyes. Cassius and Thalia approached her, his golden egg tucked under his arm.
"You're still holding onto that damn egg," Ophelia said. It was a partial truth if she was being honest. In reality one of the only things that constantly ran through her mind was Draco.
She took another sip, trying to distract herself from her thoughts.
Cassius narrowed his eyes but chose to ignore her cold front. "I didn't want to leave it in the dorms," Cassius said with a pout.
"I hardly believe a party would be safer," Ophelia retorted.
"Draco said the same thing," Cassius said coolly, finally biting back.
Ophelia grimaced at the mention of Draco, she deserved her brother's torment. "Sorry, Cas."
Instead of gloating like he usually would when he won an argument, Cassius toasted her glass with his own. "Don't worry, Ophy! Even your drama can't spoil my night."
Another laugh bubbled out of her, her previous problems paled in comparison to having a good time, the alcohol taking more of an effect.
"Hey, you should open your egg now!" Ophelia tittered, her judgement slipping by the second.
"Yeah, Warrington, open the egg!" said Pansy.
"Not you too, Parkinson," Cassius quipped.
Pansy only grinned and turned her attention back to Tracey.
Catching wind of the fourth year's torment in passing, Adrian bound towards the helm of the ship. From where they were, they could only see Adrian whisper something into Gabriel's ear. They didn't need to know what was being discussed, a wicked smile painted Adrian's face as he looked back at them from afar.
Cassius groaned. "Oh no."
She smirked. "I could kiss him right now."
"You better not! Theo, Blaise, hold her back if she does," Cassius said as he ran after Adrian.
"No promises," Blaise called after him. He glanced back at her. "You're not actually going to, are you?"
Maybe if she wanted to make things more complicated, but her situation was already convoluted enough. "No. However, I will admit that I've always found Pucey attractive," Ophelia crooned, she did a crush on him when she was eleven.
Daphne gasped. "Lia!"
"What?" Ophelia teased.
"I always thought he was cute too!" Daphne blurted, her already rosy cheeks turning a deeper shade.
Ophelia dissolved into a peal of unstoppable laughter. "Daph! Remember when he would kiss the back of your hand after you finish a dance with him?"
In the corner of her eye, Theo bristled at her words. Her friends made fun of her for being oblivious to Draco's feelings, but Theo was even more helpless than she was. Daphne blatantly flirted with him all the time and he hardly noticed.
"No, he never did that," Daphne said, her mouth agape.
She snorted. "You probably don't remember. Trace, back me up."
Tracey giggled. "Prettyyy sure it was just you, Lia."
"Bullshit! Pans, come on," Ophelia prattled.
"Never," Pansy stated.
She blanched at these new developments. Looking back at Adrian, she was seeing him in a new light.
Once again, the music came to an abrupt stop.
"Désolé, sorry! But one of our champions here is going to reveal what's inside these golden eggs. Cassius Warrington, everyone!" Gabriel announced.
Despite the disgruntled expression on his face, Cassius held up the egg above his head. Cheers and chants filled the late November air.
She chuckled, it was increasingly obvious that he was enjoying the effect he had on the crowd.
Cassius ran his hand along the egg and pried it open. To everyone's surprise, the egg was hollow and completely empty. The moment Cassius opened it, an awful, ear-piercing wail rang through the night.
A chorus of protests in multiple languages cried, "Shut it!" While others immediately covered their ears.
Clambering to close the egg, it slipped out of Cassius's hands and rolled off of the boat, the screeching coming to a stop as the egg sank into the lake below.
"Shit!" Cassius yelled.
He shed off his robes and shoes, then began to climb over the railing.
"Cassius, stop!" exclaimed Thalia.
"Sorry, Hallie, but I can't lose that stupid egg now!"
Cassius dove into the water and nearly everyone on the ship rushed to the side of the boat to watch him.
Nearly thirty seconds passed and Cassius still hadn't come up for air.
Ophelia was rapidly sobering up each second Cassius was missing. Did he drink too much? Did something get him?
"You don't think a Grindylow or the giant squid got him?" Blaise questioned, leaning over the railing as if it could have a better view of the pitch-black water, the only light was the moonlight glittering across the surface.
With impeccable timing, Cassius broke the surface, egg in hand.
"Come down here!" Cassius yelled up to them.
Ophelia sighed with relief, shaking her head at the insanity she called a brother. She kicked off her shoes and shook off her robes, her warm body shocked by the cold air.
"Really, Lia?"
She turned to find a mildly concerned Adrian staring her down. The gears slowly clicking into place, Ophelia only grinned as she patted him lightly on the shoulder. "I really do border the line of a blissful idiot and a mad genius, Pucey."
Ophelia climbed atop the railing and stood along the ledge, looking back at the others. "Don't worry too much, Adrian, I'm coherent enough to know what's going on inside your little head." She tapped her own head playfully. "And to know what's going on my own."
Then she kicked off of the ledge, somersaulting into the lake below. The roar of the crowd from the boat above was muffled as she hit the water, instead, an ethereal sound filled her ears. Paired with the bone-chilling temperature of the lake, Ophelia was sobering up at an astronomical rate.
She unlatched her wand from her holster, casting a non-verbal Lumos. Ophelia swam through the lake, following the music to find her brother. As she swam closer, Ophelia was able to discern what was being sung.
An hour long you'll have to look,
And to recover what we took,
But past an hour, the prospect's black,
Too late, it's gone, it won't come back.
She held her place when her wand illuminated the shining golden egg that Cassius was holding under the water, and his legs moved back and forth, keeping him afloat.
She waited for the song to cycle back to the part she had already heard to break the surface, to which she was met with a bemused Cassius.
"Well, I think it's quite fitting that we're in the very place that that clue was serenading us about," Ophelia remarked.
"I must agree, dear sister," Cassius replied, a similar tone of delight in his voice.
Since she finally reappeared, more people from the ship dove into the lake, including Viktor and Fleur. Much like she and Cassius had, they didn't reemerge until they had heard the whole song.
While the other students began to splash and fool around in the water, Viktor and Fleur waded towards them.
"So, do I get bragging rights for solving this?" Cassius held up the now-closed egg.
The alcohol must have had an effect on Fleur, her persona was long forgotten, and all that was left was her true, lighthearted self. "Just this once, Warrington," Fleur laughed.
On the other hand, Viktor was as sober as a stone. Ophelia couldn't even remember if Viktor was drinking back on the ship, but he was still in as much of a good mood as they were. "I'd rather not have two days to prepare for the next task, so I'll take any help I can get," Viktor chimed in.
Cassius grinned, albeit his teeth were chattering. "Wonderful! Now let's get out of this lake, it's fucking freezing!"
19 December 1994
In the weeks following the first task–if it was even possible–the castle buzzed with electric energy in anticipation of the holidays. The holidays brought about the Yule Ball, and nearly everyone in the fourth year and above was bursting with excitement. The corridors seemed even louder than normal, filled with talk of who is going with who and who is wearing what dress robes.
Harry would be thrilled, but he was more concerned with finding someone to go to the ball with. After McGonagall informed him that the champions and their partners opened the ball with a dance, Harry's mind was reeling into madness. Now it was already a week before Christmas, and he still didn't have a date.
Once again seated in a secluded section of the library, tucked away in the shelves, Harry mulled over how he was going to find a date for the ball. His first choice was obviously Ophelia, despite the awkward consolation date that they went on to make up for accidentally hexing her, they've become good friends. To make matters worse, he found her even more charming and stunning than when he just knew her from afar.
But Ophelia Warrington was unattainable. She was pretty, smart, and popular–and everyone thought the same way as Harry did. Ophelia was one of the most desired students in the school even though she was a fourth-year. If the rumours were true, she was being asked to the ball at least three times a day. Not by any Slytherins, but by the rest of the Hogwarts population, as well as those from Durmstrang and Beauxbatons.
Harry was probably one of the select few that was privy to the fact that she was rejecting all of these people for one person.
Malfoy.
Harry was still shocked that someone like Ophelia even had feelings for the blond bully. However, considering the closeness that the two had throughout the entire time they had been at Hogwarts, it wasn't necessarily a surprise anymore. Harry couldn't believe that he never noticed it before. Then again, he hardly paid attention to anyone outside of his bubble of friends before this year.
Being more in tune with the coming and going of Hogwarts was also a rude awakening for Harry. Although he impressed everyone with his Accio spell and flying battle with the Hungarian Horntail, there was still uncertainty about his validity as a champion. He received the worst injury out of the other champions–and he wasn't even the fastest competitor–yet he came in first for the past task. Instead of whispers of him rigging the goblet, new rumours struck that Harry was paying the judges in his favor. Harry still couldn't decide which was worse.
"We've got to stop running into each other like this. You know, because of you I always check the row so I'm not scared shitless again."
Harry must've been sitting in the library for hours. Through the window, the sun was now beginning to set. He turned to the voice, his guest had that smug smirk she wore proudly.
"It's nice to know I have a lasting impression," said Harry.
"On the contrary, it's not a good one."
Much like she had all those years ago, Ophelia hopped onto the table Harry was seated at, now looking down at him.
Maybe it was the urgency to find a date, or it was the pure coincidence that she was now here before him, but the words were already out of Harry's mouth before he could take it back. "D'you want to go to the ball with me?"
"I–"
"Because well, I've heard that you still don't have a date and the ball is in a week. And I know that you like Malfoy and I've just realized that you're probably already going with him but it's too late to rescind me asking you–"
She interrupted him. "I'll go with you."
What?
"I'd love to go to the ball with you, Harry," Ophelia clarified.
"But what about Malfoy?"
Her turn to be quiet, Harry saw a sliver of vulnerability on her face. But it was gone as fast as it appeared, her usual air of confidence returned. "We're not speaking at the moment…and you're right. The ball is in a week and I'd much rather go with someone who I know I will have a good time with. I've gotten quite an array of propositions these past few weeks," Ophelia said with a scowl.
Slowly that scowl turned into her signature smirk once again. "What do you think about the idea of pissing off Draco?"
Harry wasn't exactly sure if Ophelia was a good or bad influence on him, but he found his own mouth quirking up into a devious grin. He wasn't nearly as much of a marauder like his father, Remus, or Sirius–and here was an opportunity to bring about mischief. "Count me in."
"Lia, you're terrible!" Daphne exclaimed, jogging alongside Ophelia.
They were already late to their meeting since Ophelia was held up by Harry.
Ophelia laughed. "How? I needed a date and he offered. Besides, Potter agreed to help me make Draco jealous, I'm not forcing him to do anything."
Daphne huffed. "Potter would do anything you ask him to because he likes you."
Ophelia stopped in front of the door to the classroom. "I know I'm being manipulative and a down-right bitch about this, but trust me Daph, I know what I'm doing. I didn't tell you before, but I've been honest to Harry. He knows about the bet."
Daphne cocked her head to the side in surprise. "Shit."
She snorted. "I know. Now come on, let's see what this waste of a Saturday afternoon has to offer."
"Miss Warrington, Miss Greengrass, you are late." Severus's baritone voice struck them as soon as she and Daphne entered the classroom and all heads turned to look at them. All of the desks and tables were removed, and the Slytherins years four through seven congregated around Severus in the centre of the room.
"Sorry, sir. I had to post a letter," Ophelia lied with ease, joining her friends in the outskirts of the crows. It was a half-truth. She did post a letter earlier that morning. Then she went to the library, where Harry Potter asked her to the ball.
And she said yes.
Severus eyed her with suspicion, but he decided not press the subject. "As I was saying," Severus droned, "The Yule Ball is a traditional part of the Triwizard Tournament and an opportunity for you to socialise with our foreign guests." He stressed the word socialise with a mocking tone.
"Bet McGonagall gave him a script to stick to," Blaise snickered.
Severus turned his head and gave him a withering look. Severus continued, "The ball will be open only to fourth years and above, which is why you are all gathered here today. Although you may invite a younger student if you wish–"
A wave of scoffs and delicate laughs floated through the Slytherin students. Most of them wouldn't be caught dead taking a younger student to a ball unless you wanted to lose your social reputation within the house.
Severus cleared his throat and order was quickly restored. "Dress robes will be worn. The ball will start at eight o'clock on Christmas Day, finishing at midnight in the Great Hall." Severus stared deliberately around the class. "Per Professor Dumbledore's request, we shall use this time and space to teach those of you who do not know how to dance."
She and the other pureblood Slytherins groaned at that statement. Like most purebloods, Ophelia was forced to learn ballroom dancing at a young age. And she would much rather use her afternoon doing something more productive.
"Now then, Miss Warrington. For arriving late, I believe you can demonstrate a simple waltz?" Severus asked her.
Ophelia refrained from rolling her eyes. She turned to Blaise. "A dance, Zabini?"
Blaise laughed and offered a hand. "Why of course–"
Severus interrupted him. "With Mr. Malfoy please, Miss Warrington."
Fuck.
Low whistles and gasps came from the other Slytherins. It wasn't a secret to them that she and Draco were on complicated terms. She quietly sighed with resignation. Whatever Severus had plotted by forcing them to dance with one another, she had no choice but to go along with it. Especially when she had the attention of the better half of her house watching her every move.
The other students backed away from the centre of the room, leaving only her and Draco in the middle of a circle the Slytherins created.
Reality struck her. She just agreed to go to the ball with Harry. The same boy that Draco considered equal parts a nuisance and a waste of space.
"Miss Warrington," Severus said, his tone both sharp and concerned.
She hadn't noticed that Draco was now standing a foot away from her, his left hand extended towards her.
She placed her hand in his, a rush of energy flowing through her at the contact.
"Now Miss Warrington will place her left hand on Mr. Malfoy's right upper arm."
Following his direction, she did as she was told. Underneath her touch, she felt Draco tense. She held back a smile, glad to know that despite his aloof attitude, the intimacy between them had an effect on him.
"Mr. Malfoy, place your right hand just below her left shoulder."
Severus pointed his wand to a corner of the room, a lively piece filled the tense atmosphere that was rapidly building between her and Draco. Draco tried to keep her at a distance as he took the first step, but she only pulled him closer to him.
Though Severus explained each step that they took, muscle memory took over her and Draco. Soon enough she didn't even register the words Severus was saying, the music was at the forefront of her mind. They danced with an ease and familiarity that could only be attributed to the years of history between them. It wasn't until she returned to his arms from an outward spin, did she really look at him since the incident with Natalia.
Before that point she was focused on a point just over his shoulder, never looking at him directly. Now, staring into his eyes–those eyes she has grown to miss in the past weeks they haven't spoken to each other–Ophelia focused hard to not slip into Draco's mind. The funny thing was, she didn't even need to in order to know what he was feeling. Deep within her very soul, she knew he missed her too.
The piece finally came to an end and they ended their dance with a dip. Around them, the room burst into polite applause. Withdrawing from each other, Ophelia bound towards Daphne, Pansy, and Tracey.
"Lia," Pansy muttered.
"What?" Ophelia inquired, trying to control her erratic breath and ignoring the phantom of Draco's warm touch where he held her.
"That was–" whispered Tracey.
"Intense," Daphne finished for her.
Heat rushed to Ophelia's face. Across the room, Draco was in a similar state as she was.
She released a shaky exhale. A week.
Seven more days until the Yule Ball.
Seven more days until Draco most likely explodes.
A/N: Hello! Y'all don't know how excited I am to be writing these chapters because I've been anticipating these since I've started planning for this fic. Since I'm a basic bish, the Yule Ball was probably one of my favorite scenes from the books and movies growing up because it's just so magical?
Anyway, while I was referencing the book for this part, the dance lesson was actually only in the movie?! I was so surprised, and tbh I had to carry that into the fic because Snape teaching the Slytherins how to dance has been one of my favorite headcanons.
Please comment and thank you for the reads :)
Contains content from Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.
- Chapter 20: The First Task
- Chapter 21: The House-elf Liberation Front
- Chapter 22: The Unexpected Task