Chapter 21
The next few days passed in a happy fog for Eliza. All the pent up emotions flowed out of Eliza's quill and into her diary. She had put the Golden Egg under her bed and was determined not to open it for at least a week. The tension that had filled the girls' dormitory in the run up to the first task had disappeared and Lavender and Parvati were back to their gossip-y selves.
Draco Malfoy was no longer making eye contact with Eliza, and Fred had started to talk in whispers when he was around as though Malfoy's days were numbered.
Classes had resumed and Eliza found herself trying to forget about the tournament, trying to pretend she was just a normal student with her only worries based around homework. However, in her next Transfiguration lesson Professor McGonagall had an unwelcome surprise.
"Miss Potter, please stay behind." Eliza looked up at her teacher and nodded before continuing to pack her bag.
"Maybe she wants you to sit your NEWT tomorrow." Said Fred chuckling, Cedric looked over and nodded.
"I wouldn't be surprised, Eliza, you put me to shame in the last task." He said it with a smile and patted Eliza on the shoulder as he left the room.
"See you later." Said Fred walked out of the room.
Eliza walked over to the front of the room feeling oddly nervous, not in her usual way though. Fred was starting to make her feel nervous every time he was around, but it wasn't in a bad way.
"I'm not going to beat around the cauldron, Miss Potter, you are not going to like this news but there is nothing we can do to stop it." Eliza gulped and waited.
"It is a traditional part of the Triwizard tournament to have a Yule Ball on Christmas Eve. The champions and their…their partners open the Ball with the first dance. You will have to take part there is no avoiding it I'm afraid. I will be informing Mr Potter this afternoon."
Eliza nodded and looked at the floor, the thought of dancing in front of everyone was almost as horrible as facing another Dragon.
"Unfortunately, the reflexious spell will not work in the confined space of the Hall, so I suggest you practice dancing so that you only have the people watching you to worry about. And you'll need to find a partner." Eliza nodded and left the room, her head reeling.
As the climbed through the portrait hole she almost collided with Harry who was being dragged by Hermione.
"Oh good… Eliza, there you are! You have to come with me now…it's amazing…come on." Hermione hadn't been this excited since Professor Lockhart complimented her hair, Eliza felt she had no choice but to follow her friends.
They walked for a good five minutes before Hermione stopped, they were standing next to the entrance to the kitchen. Hermione leant forward and tickled the pear which chuckled before turning into a door handle.
"Hermione…I'm starving…" Said Ron just about catching up with them, it appeared he had forgotten that they were about to enter the kitchens.
"Well, if you'd only stop thinking about your stomach for one minute and open your eyes, you'll realise where we are." Said Hermione leading them into the huge room that had to be of similar dimensions to the Great Hall.
Hundreds of house-elves were scurrying about, some with plates of food balanced on their heads, others carrying ingredients.
"Oh great, we're in the kitchen." Said Ron happily, last time Eliza and Ron had been in here it had been much quieter.
"Yes but that's not why…" Began Hermione, but she was interrupted by a greyish blob that collided with Harry. He stumbled slightly before straightening up and bending down to see what had hit him.
"Harry Potter, sir! Harry Potter!" Came a tiny high-pitched voice.
"Dobby?" Gasped Harry looking delighted to see the elf. If Harry looked happy however Dobby looked over the moon, he had tears running down his face and his smile looked simply too big to be comfortable.
"Dobby hoped for so long to see Harry Potter and then Harry Potter's friend found Dobby and Dobby was so happy Harry Potter sir, for Dobby hoped to see Harry Potter again and Dobby also hoped to see Harry Potter's sister! Dobby has been helping keep Harry Potter's sisters' bed warm at night but no matter how hard Dobby and the other house-elves have tried Harry Potter's sister is still cold in the morning- we is so sorry Harry Potter's sister!"
Ron chuckled slightly at Dobby's enthusiasm.
"Oh, yes, Dobby this is my sister Eliza." Said Harry, Eliza shook Dobby's tiny hand and the house elf bowed to her. She tried to forgive him for the fiasco with the Black Forrest Gateau, he had been trying to warn Harry, it wasn't that he meant to destroy the cake that Eliza had spent all day creating.
"Dobby is so sorry Harry Potter's sister, we is trying to keep you warm, we is worried that if we put any more warming things on the bed, that they bed will explode and then Professor Dumbledore and Harry Potter would be very sad!"
"Don't worry, Dobby. I'm sure Eliza's blanket will turn up soon." Said Hermione trying to imply that Eliza was not blaming Dobby for her cold mornings.
"No Harry Potter's clever friend! We has tried more blankets but it would be too much!" Cried Dobby pulling his ears in despair, clearly he did not know about the Moonstone blanket.
It took quite a while to calm Dobby enough for the students to move into the kitchens and have a cup of tea. When Dobby brought his friend Winky over they had a repeat of the ordeal. Apparently Winky had taken charge of Eliza's situation and Dobby was pleased that it appeared to be distracting her from a slight Butterbeer addiction that she had picked up after being sacked by Mr Crouch.
As they were leaving, Harry turned back to Dobby and Winky, taking care not to spill any of the cakes he had been given.
"Dobby, I've had an idea! If you're not too busy do you think you could try and find Eliza's Moonstone blanket? It would help her sleep and then you wouldn't need to worry about keeping her warm."
"Dobby and Winky will find it Harry Potter sir! We is going to find it to help Harry Potter and Harry Potter's sister!"
Eliza smiled in thanks and Winky's eyes filled with happy tears and she ran forward to give Eliza a hug.
When they reached the entrance hall, Ron turned to Eliza,
"I reckon you've got a fan, Harry Potter's sister." Eliza smiled sarcastically at him and the group laughed their way to the common room.