Hearts are Blind (Severus Snape X OC)

The All Hallows Eve Ball (part 2)

October 31st (8:07 p.m.)

"HEY!" she cried.

The only thing that kept her from hitting the back of that red head of his was the slight slip in his grip. His hands were sweaty and all she could think about was the fact that his hands were never sweaty, from all the times they'd danced. He continued to drag her all the way to the middle of the room, where the candles shown the brightest and where no one else seemed to be dancing. He stopped only when they'd entered the small open space.

"Xavier Michael!" She yelled and then wrenched her arm out of his grasp. "What the hell is wrong with you?"

"Dance with me." He snapped and held his hands out.

"Why would I want to do that?" She snapped back, though she did so quietly. "You nearly ripped my arm off!"

"I'm sorry!" He replied irritated, though he also lowered his voice. "You said you'd dance with me tonight, so what's the problem?"

"How insensitive," Lucinda said and crossed her arms. "I realize that you have your own initiatives and priorities, but you could be a better friend."

Xavier slowly lowered the arms that he'd held out to her and looked away. His red hair was attractively messy and he ran a hand of slender fingers through it with a sigh. "I don't know how to be different than I am..." he said quietly, his eyes obviously finding the silver-haired girl in the distance. His freckles popped in the light of the candles overhead and the girl suddenly felt a pang of love for him.

"Don't try to be." Lucinda said with just a hint of exasperation.

X didn't say anything for a moment. The few dancing couples who'd stared at their short fight were preoccupied with their own affairs by now and she was thankful for that.

"Is your arm okay?" He asked unexpectedly, placing a hand on her shoulder briefly. She was going to snap at him again, but then she saw the sorry look on his face and thought better of it.

"It's alright," she said and rubbed her arm where he'd touched it. "Just don't let it happen again... and I mean it."

X nodded, but he looked uncomfortable. If Lucinda had looked behind her, she would have known why. She didn't have long to wait, however, to know the reason for the sudden abashed look he was throwing over her shoulder.

"Is everything alright here?"

The voice was polite, but it definitely had a dangerous edge to it. She really didn't expect it to be Tristin. She'd never witnessed him in a foul mood, but a foul mood was what he was in. It was bizarre to turn around and see him there with a mask of calm only halfway concealing his expression of restraint. It left her a little uneasy.

"Oh, Tristin," she said quickly and, for whatever reason, stepped in front of Xavier. "X had to speak with me. I'm sorry I left so abruptly."

Xavier stared at the back of her head in awe and glanced back and forth between her hair and the Slytherin's black eyes in front of her. Tristin did about the same; looking from her to the boy behind her. He seemed to be weighing the situation and none of them spoke for a long, tense moment. Eventually his face relaxed and he even graced them with a gentle smile. "Okay," he said and slipped an arm around her waist. "If you two are finished with your conversation, I'd like to have a quick dance with my date."

Lucinda blushed and X swallowed a nervous lump in his throat. "No problem, man," he nodded. "I'll catch up with you guys later on."

Lucinda allowed him to lead her away, but then turned to the Slytherin boy as they entered another area of the dance floor. "What was that about?" She whispered, his long hair brushing her lips as it swayed in a black curtain. "You looked kind of scary."