Love, Draco

Chapter 4

      In Ophelias perspective

        The Yule ball was just around the corner. The castle itself seemed to be bustling up and down with excitement. It was all the girls in Ophelia's dorm would talk about.

Ophelia herself didn't find the idea of a Yule ball exactly as excited as a normal girl her age would. Instead she found herself being wrapped up in her studying, mostly given the fact that she was considerably behind in Herbology. For the first time since she could remember she was actually doing decently well in Potions, mostly due to all the help Draco had been giving her. He was, to her surprise, very skilled in the subject.

As she sat on her four poster bed in her dorm, one of her dorm mates, a girl named Harmony, crawled up next to her and started to go on about the ball.

"It's going to be absolutely incredible" she sighed.

"Yeah I bet." Ophelia replied, halfheartedly.

"You don't seem very excited." Harmony said, shifting her position so she was straddling the bed in front of Ophelia.

"I have more important things to think about." Ophelia said, starting intently at the book in her crossed legs. Harmony reached over and grabbed the book and threw it across the room.

"Hey!!" Ophelia yelled.

"Let's goooo" Harmony said, pulling on Ophelia's hand "come with the rest of the girls and I to pick out our dresses. It'll be fun!! I promise."

Having been snapped out of her studying phase Ophelia suddenly found the idea of going to pick out a dress rather appealing.

"Fine." Ophelia agreed, hopping up off her bed and pulled her coat off of its hanger. She threw it on over her shoulders, it matched perfectly with the simply dark blue dress and tights she had put on that morning. She grabbed her hat and mittens and put them on as well.

The girls in her dorm had already started heading out the door and she raced after them, finally catching up and grabbing hold of Harmonys hand.

They proceeded down to long spiraling stairs and down onto the first level of the castle and then out into the court yard. As they walked across the open area, a cold winter breeze broke free and rushed into Ophelias face. The chill rushed around her and turned her cheeks a light pink. She wiggled her nose and breathed in the cold air. Winter was by far her favorite season.

"Look over there!" another girl in their group, Melody, who was also Harmonys sister, exclaimed. Her fave was pointed in the direction of Harry whom she had had a crush on for as long as Ophelia could remember. Melody yelled at him and waved excitedly and then scurried off, giggling like crazy. Harry spotted Ophelia in the crowd of girls and mouthed the words "Looks fun". In response she raised her eyebrows sarcastically and then ran off in order to catch up with the rest of the girls.

Finally after what seemed like an eternity of walking and talking about who they all wanted to take them to the ball, they arrived at Hogsmead.

Snow covered the top of the buildings. Smoke curled up out of the chimneys, emitting a rather smoky smell into the air.

Other Hogwarts students roamed the cobbled street, coming in and out of shops and restaurants. Ophelia, Harmony, Melody and the two other girls roamed down the street until they reached the dress shop they had been looking for.

Hanging up on the display case were three brilliantly beautiful dresses along with two pairs of dress robes.

Inside Ophelia could see at least ten other kids roaming the aisles. Harmony opened the door for them and they ascended into the small shop.

Ophelia immediately broke away from the rest of them, delighted for a chance to be by herself for a bit. Her eyes roamed the aisles until she spotted a particular dress that immediately caught her attention. She walked towards it and examined it closely as she did so.

It was a shade of light blue and beautiful sequins lined to top and bottom. The long sleeves clung to the mannequin and the top dipped into a long V neck. The top was tight and then it opened up so it was looser and flowed at the bottom.

"Wow. That dress is absolutely beautiful and I bet if would look even better on you." A voice said from behind her. Immediately recognizing it, Ophelia spun around and just as she expected the tall figure of Draco Malfoy stood directly behind her with a smile on his face. Having grown very fond of him she smiled back.

"Yeah." She agreed "I think this just might be the one."

"I don't think you could've chosen better." Draco replied still smiling. He was sporting a black sweater and a pair of black sweatpants to match. His hands were bare and so was his hair which had collected snow from outside.

"What brings you here?" Ophelia asked him.

"Ah well I was looking for a nice pair of dress robes." He replied.

"Of course you were." Ophelia laughed "well in that case you must have a date. Who's the lucky girl?"

"Well actually" he said " I was hoping you would be" at this point he had tilted his head down a little as if almost afraid to hear her answer. She had to admit, the question had taken her aback a little. As she thought about it she realized that Draco was really the only person she could see herself going to the Ball with. A smile formed on her face as she looked back up at Malfoy. She slowly walked up to him and took her hand and lifted his head back up so he was looking at her and not at the ground.

"I would be delighted" she whispered in his ear.

"Brilliant." He said, clearly surprised but she could sense the happiness in his voice.