The Sun, Moon & Stars

84. Jealousy, Jealousy

Ophelia was confused to say the least. Harry had been avoiding her for the rest of the day, and even Hermione couldn't come up with a solid answer as to why.

"Maybe he likes you?" She offered as they were eating dinner, the one Harry had failed to show up at, and the one Ron was not eating with them at because of the current argument between him and Hermione.

"No, he doesn't." Ophelia replied simply, "He likes someone else."

"You can like two people at once." Hermione reminded her, "I think, at least."

"He doesn't like me. That's out of the question." She shook her head.

Hermione sighed, "Well, maybe it doesn't have anything to do with you at all. He told me about what happened with Cho earlier, he was probably just upset and lashed out at you."

"Yeah. Maybe." She shrugged, looking down at her plate full of food, suddenly not having the desire to eat any of it.

"I'm going to go find him." She said abruptly, standing up and straightening out her clothes.

Hermione frowned, "Are you sure? Maybe it would be best to just give him some space—"

"I'm sure." She cut her off, "I want to talk to him."

Hermione hesitated slightly before speaking, "Alright. I'll see you both later, then."

Ophelia flashed her a smile, nodding, as she ventured out of the Great Hall and into the brisk corridor. It was relatively dim, except for the lanterns and the stringed cool-blue Christmas lights attached to the wreaths that hung from them.

It looked magical at night, especially with the large panel-windows that showed the moonlit grounds, the bright stars that speckled the pitch black sky, and the snow that was falling softly — as if a snow globe had been shaken up.

She checked everywhere she could think of for him. All the empty classrooms, the dungeons, the kitchens, the stock closets and the broom cupboards. She checked the astronomy tower, the Divination ward, the library and even that room Fluffy had been kept in back in first year.

By the time she had looked everywhere she could possibly think of, she heard the buzz of students exiting the Great Hall and dividing up to go to their common rooms. The feast was over, and she had been searching for the better part of an hour.

Her cheeks were flushed from speed-walking, and her curly black hair was slightly messed up as she chose to call it a day; choosing to take one of the abandoned stairwells to get to Gryffindor tower.

If she couldn't find him tomorrow morning, she would tell a teacher, she decided, as she went into the stairwell to climb up the steps.

That's when she saw him. Sitting at the very last stone step, looking out the window that was just to his right.

"Hey." She said softly, causing him to flinch slightly as he turned to look at her, his green eyes glowing in the dim room, "You okay? I don't know what happened earlier—"

"Just drop it." Harry mumbled.

"Listen, I'm sorry if—"

"You have nothing to be sorry for!"

"Harry, you're clearly upset about—"

"I said to drop it!" He fumed, as he stood up angrily and paced in front of her, running a hand through his messy black hair, looking conflicted.

If Harry didn't want to talk, he always left. She had learned that after being friends with him for over three years. He quit if he didn't want to discuss something, but here he was — pacing, when he could so easily leave. So she stood there, unsure of what to say.