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Ophiuchus stood in a corner, observing. His steel grey eyes, stared intensely at her. In fact he hadn't been able to take his eyes off her the entire evening. Though given the chance he'd rather stay away from it, the Yule Ball was, according to his beloved cousin Nymphie , a once in a lifetime thing. And between her and Andromeda, he didn't have much say. He had initially wanted to spend the holidays in the Tonks house, but Andy insisted he stayed back and tried to enjoy the ball. But to him, the ball was far from enjoyable. Ophiuchus despised crowds, forget a crowd of overexcited teenagers. He was more than sure that he'd have had a much better Christmas with Nymphie, Andy and Ted.
He straightened his dress robes, a simple black sophisticated outfit which he felt suited him. While Nymphadora seriously felt he could do with a little more colour, the prolonged stares of admiration from most girls, seemed to say otherwise. Well good thing he didn't have to bring a date along with himself. Somewhere between his not much sociable charisma and his distaste for most people, asking a girl out would've been to awkward for him. Instead he was just there, thinking about everything that had happened in the past few days. Well, mostly Potter's interaction with the dragon. It was only when Harry was standing face to face with the Hungarian Horntail, that Ophiuchus had realized that this Tournament was not a joke. Though he knew that people had died in previous tournaments, he realized the reason behind Andromeda's worried tone in her reply when he had written to her about Potter's name coming out of the goblet. Did she believe that there was some serious conspiracy going on ? Maybe.
But for the moment he'd rather admire the ball and Hermione Granger instead of worry about things which didn't concern him, as of now. Hermione looked, simply gorgeous. She had definitely done something with her hair as it was no longer bushy but sleek and shiny, and twisted up into an elegant knot at the back of her head. She wore robes made of a floaty, periwinkle-blue material, which only highlighted her skin tone. She looked so much unlike her usual self that he'd been stunned for a few moments when he'd first seen her enter the ball with Victor Krum. He'd be lying to himself if he said he didn't feel a little jealous, but it had been him who couldn't gather the courage to ask her out, so he'd shot her an encouraging smile before dissolving into the gathered crowd.
Ophiuchus had to say that the house-elves had outdone themselves with both the food and the decorations. Perhaps only Fleur Delacour would disagree with that. And the Weird Sisters were always a win. Though Narcissa Malfoy would certainly disagree and comment on how that was a result of Nymphadora rubbing off on him, he'd rather not miss the opportunity to see them performing live than play along with anything and everything the Malfoys had to say. He was lost in his own thoughts when he heard shouting from across the hall.
"No it isn't!" shouted Ron. "It's about winning!"
People were starting to stare at him and Hermione, and either of them seemed to be in the middle of some heated argument. He saw Harry say something quietly but the Ron seemed to have ignored it all together. Ophiuchus shook his head, he seriously wished someone would knock some sense into this boy's head. He only smirked to himself when he saw Hermione leave the two boys, clearly annoyed and disappointed by their behaviour.
" Hey," he said from behind her as the girl turned around to face him with a small smile on her face.
"Ophiuchus," she said. "Enjoying yourself ?"
Ophiuchus chuckled, " Not much, except for the fact that you've got Krum's fans having an intense argument about whether or not you're good enough for him."
" So," Hermione narrowed her eyes, " Ophiuchus Black and gossip? You didn't seem the type Mr.Black," she kept her gaze on him before cracking up with laughter.
" Honestly," sighed the boy, running a hand through his hair, " I haven't got much to do and the girls aren't exactly quiet about it either."
He smiled. Though he could tell that Hermione's mood had already turned sour, it didn't hurt to see her laugh at all. But this time it was less genuine, he didn't see the usual gleam in her eyes, which was ever present when he smiled.
" So, looks like your date's looking for you," He pointed at Krum who was making his way towards them with two butterbeers in hand. Hermione grinned and shook her head. " I'd rather get going. You look ravishing by the way."
Hermione only grinned as he made his way back to table, a little confused so as to why he had left it in the first place. Ravishing ? Did that even sound like a proper compliment ? maybe he was just thinking too much.
When the Weird Sisters finished playing at midnight, everyone gave them a last, loud round of applause and started to wend their way into the entrance hall. Many people were expressing the wish that the ball could have gone on longer, but Ophiuchus was perfectly happy to be going to bed; as far as he was concerned, the evening hadn't been much fun. He grimaced a bit when he saw the way in which Pansy Parkinson was clinging to his cousin's arm, at least he wouldn't have to see this after getting back to his dormitory. He quickly swept past the people leaving, and was out just in time to see Hermione give Ron a very cold look and walk past him , and up the marble staircase without speaking. He chuckled to himself and headed followed right behind him, keeping a distance. At least there was that tad bit of drama to make the night interesting.
