A few weeks later, I sat around a table at the Three Broomsticks, enjoying a butterbeer with my friends. So far this school year had been...a lot. With my extra elective and nightly tutoring sessions with Maxwell, I was always either in the library or my table in the Common Room, nose in a textbook and hand flying across parchment. Fred and George had even started to call me "Little Hermione," when they came across me in that state.
The first trip of the year to Hogsmeade was a welcome respite.
"Have you talked to Harry about the First Task, Eliza?" Ginny asked me, unable to hide her look of concern for my cousin. "I can't believe it is in three days."
"He must be so scared!" Tilly added.
At the reminder of the First Task, a pit of worry opened up in my stomach as I started to imagine the terrible things he might have to face.
"Eh, no I haven't really seen much of him lately, to be honest." I glanced around the pub to see if he was even here today, and didn't see him.
Guilt joined my worry. I had staunchly stood up for him anytime I heard someone bad mouthing him and tried to make sure he knew that I had his back, but he had been in such a foul mood all year long that he usually spent his free time sulking in the common room. And with my course load I didn't really have time to join him...
"He'll be fine." Amelia said, resolutely. "He's faced more dark magic in his first three years at Hogwarts than most wizards do in a lifetime."
She was right, and I knew she was. But it didn't do much to help my guilt and worry for my cousin.
"Not to mention he battled a troll with Ron and Hermione that one time." Tilly cheerfully added, sensing my and Ginny's worry from across the table.
"Ugh!" Ginny groaned loudly at the sound of her brother's name. "I can't believe he is being such a bloody prat. Harry needs him right now and he can't get over his little pity party!"
Tilly and Amelia nodded in agreement from across the table, but I secretly felt for Ron. It couldn't be easy to constantly be in Harry's shadow, especially with five older brothers who all cast pretty large shadows themselves.
"He'll come around." I said, looking over to where Ron was sitting with the twins and Lee Jordan. He was laughing at something George had just said, but it looked forced. He missed his best friend, I could tell. It was just a matter of time before those two were thick as thieves again. "Or at least, I hope so."
Ginny huffed next to me, but changed the subject. "So, how are your tutoring sessions going, Eliza?" This caused my two other friends to lean forward in their seats. Amelia had a devious grin on, but Tilly just looked excited.
"Oh, they're fine." I said, rolling my eyes.
"Elaborate." Amelia demanded.
"Yeah, what do you two talk about?" Tilly asked.
"Arithmancy…" I said, honestly. We rarely had time to talk about anything besides numbers and what they symbolized.
And my friends didn't need to know that, while we were working on actual school work, I would occasionally steal glances at him when he was looking down. He'd even caught me staring once, and the smile he had shot in my direction had me blushing for the rest of the night.
"You're the worst!" Ginny groaned again. "You spend every evening with the cutest boy any of us have ever seen-"
"Maybe not ever seen," Tilly interrupted, clearly trying her hardest not to glance over to Neville at a table a few over from us.
"Ok, maybe not ever seen," Ginny amended kindly, "And all you will tell us is that you talk to him about numbers the whole time? What a waste!"
I laughed into my butterbeer, "Sorry to disappoint!"
"Ugh!" they collectively groaned.
"We are trying to live through you, Eliza. We need something exciting to happen." Amelia said.
The only "exciting" thing that had happened so far was Malfoy bothering me before our session last week.
"Well…" I said, knowing they would be angry with me that I hadn't already told them. But, to be honest, I was embarrassed that I had let Malfoy talk to me like I was dirt, again, and hadn't defended myself. "There was the incident with Malfoy last week…" and I launched into the story.
….
I had walked into the library a few minutes early to secure the table Maxwell and I always sat at, only to find Malfoy leaning back in a chair there, his feet on the table and his arms behind his head. Not even pretending to study or read.
"First a dragon lover and now a frog, how pathetic can you be Dursely?" he drawled when he saw me approach, not moving from the table.
"Go away, Malfoy." I said, hoping he would vacate the table before Maxwell showed up. The idea of Malfoy insulting me in front of him was too embarrassing for words. Not to mention, Malfoy seemed to be insinuating that I had a crush on Maxwell.
Which I didn't. Really.
"I think I'll stay right here, thank you." He said, narrowing his eyes at me. "You know his grandmother is the Minister for Magic of France, right?"
I nodded. Of course I knew that.
"And you do know how serious the French are about blood purity, right?" He sneered.
That I didn't know.
When I didn't respond, he looked triumphantly cruel, "You can't imagine someone like him would ever want a filthy mudblood like you. How pathetic can you get, Dursley. At least the dragon boy comes from a family of blood traitors. But a Laurent-"
Malfoy suddenly stopped talking and looked at something over my shoulder. I turned, expecting Harry or the twins to be there, ready to defend me as usual, and felt my cheeks flame when I saw Maxwell standing there, looking down at Malfoy with a cold expression on his face.
"What about a Laurent?" he asked Malfoy, in a voice I had never heard him use before it was so cold.
Malfoy, for once in his life, actually looked a little unsure of himself. "Oh, I was just explaining a few things to Dursley here," he finally responded, still not moving from the table.
Maxwell studied Malfoy for a few moments, and the latter actually started to squirm in his seat at the unflinching gaze that was cast in his direction. "Eliza," Maxwell emphasized, "is an exceptionally brilliant witch. I'm sure there is nothing she needs for you to explain to her."
I had never seen Malfoy look as flustered as he did in that moment. He actually blushed a little under the scrutiny of Maxwell and all he could do was huff in response.
"Well," Maxwell continued. "Since you appear to be done with your explanations and your studies for the evening, we would like the table."
A feeling of triumph ran through me as I watched Malfoy get to his feet, looking so pissed, before stalking off without a word. I had never seen anyone knock him down a peg so thoroughly. It was quite satisfying, to say the least.
As we finally settled into our table across from each other, Maxwell asked me if I was alright.
"Yeah, Malfoy just likes to bother me sometimes."
"You shouldn't let people like him bother you, Eliza. They are never worth the trouble."
"People like him?" I asked.
"Blood purists. They are all a little crazy, don't you think?"
"I do." I agreed quickly. "So...you don't care about blood status and all of that? I braved.
"Merlin, no." He exclaimed. "My family has never cared about such things. In fact, my uncle just married a wonderful muggle-born witch. We are all very happy with the match."
I felt bolstered by his words and story. Malfoy had been wrong, as usual.
….
When I finished the story, instead of looking angry over Malfoy like I thought they would, all three of my best friends had dreamy expressions on their faces and their mouths were slightly open.
Tilly spoke first, "Oh, Eliza, he fancies you. I know it!"
Amelia and Ginny nodded their agreement.
"How could you possibly come to that conclusion from that story?" I asked, not believing their reactions. "Just because he doesn't hate muggle-borns and doesn't like people like Malfoy, he suddenly fancies me? That's a stretch. Even for you, Tills."
Amelia opened her mouth to respond but was cut off as a giant shadow fell across our table.
"How'er yeh, girls?" Hagrid's booming voice asked from behind me.
I turned in my seat to say hello to the groundskeeper and professor, having to crane my neck to see his face. He looked positively excited about something, gleeful almost, and was doing a poor job of hiding it.
How curious.
We all said hello and made small talk for a few moments before Hagrid said to me, "Hermione was lookin' fer yeh ther, Eliza," motioning with his hands to Hermione sitting alone in the corner of the room.
"Oh, thanks, Hagird," I said as I clamored out of my seat.
"No bother, see yeh later." Hagird said with undeniable excitement again, before wading through the tables and leaving the Three Broomsticks.
"Be right back," I said to my friends before making my way over to Hermione, who appeared to be whispering to herself as she looked at a piece of parchment in her hands. This wasn't totally out of the ordinary for the studious witch.
"Oh, hello Eliza!" she said, and started jerking her head to the spot on the bench right next to her.
"Err, hello Hermione," I said back. Sitting down across from her. "Hagrid said you were looking for me?"
I almost fell from the bench when I heard Harry's disembodied voice say, "Hiya, Eliza."
That damn cloak.
"Merlin, Harry, you scared me!" I said, clutching my chest.
My cousin's familiar laugh sounded from next to Hermione.
"Why are you wearing your father's cloak?" I asked him once I had recovered. He usually wore it to sneak around the castle at night, but not in broad daylight like this.
"I'm tired of people staring at me and quoting Skeeter's ridiculous article," Harry grumbled. "Not to mention the "Potter Stinks" pins."
My guilty feeling from earlier came back with a vengeance. "Oh, Harry, I'm so sorry. I have been so busy with school work and-"
"Tutoring that French boy," Harry finished for me, tonelessly. Hermione choked a bit on her butterbeer.
"He is your age, Harry," I said, getting defensive, "you can hardly call him a 'boy,'"
Harry just snorted from under his cloak. He was in a bit of a mood, it seemed. I'm sure if I could see his face, he'd be rolling his eyes in signature Harry fashion.
"Harry," Hermione said, looking at the empty space where he sat, "What was it that Hagrid said about tonight?" She was clearly trying to redirect him back on topic.
"Right," Harry said. "Hagird wants you and me to come to his cabin at midnight tonight, for some reason. Any idea what that's about?"
"Not at all, how odd." I replied. Usually it was Ron and Hermione who accompanied Harry on his late-night excursions.
"Weird," Harry said. "Well, if you want to go with me, you can. We'll wear the cloak of course, and Hermione has agreed to help us get out of the Common Room without anyone noticing."
"Yes!" I said, too loudly and causing a few people to look in our direction. "I mean, yes I want to go!" I tried to whisper.
Hermione had a small smile on her face, and I really wished I could see Harry.
"You won't be too busy tutoring your little friend, will you?" Harry asked, again sounding odd about Maxwell.
"Shut it, Harry." I shot back.
"Alright," he said, "be ready to go from the Common Room at 11:30. I have to be back by one though, so it will be a quick trip."
"Why do you have to be back by one?" I couldn't help but ask.
….
Dragons. Bloody dragons. What Hagrid had wanted to show Harry and me had ended up being four great, big, bloody dragons.
Not even the sight of Charlie Weasley, looking very brave and handsome wrangling the beasts with his shirt sleeves rolled up, could distract me from my absolute horror over the fact that there were four bloody dragons within walking distance of my school. Where children lived, for Merlin's sake!
Then my horror doubled, tripled, when I realized why the dragons were here.
"They cannot be serious," I hissed under my breath, still under the cloak with Harry, who was staring wide-mouthed at the sight before us. "This is absolutely, bloody ridiculous. They cannot expect-,"
Harry cut me off with a hand to my arm, whispering a "shh." I had been raising my voice without realizing it.
And luckily the dragons were so loud, no one had heard me.
We then watched as it took ten grown wizards several attempts to subdue the dragons. How could Harry handle even one of these animals on his own? There was just no way. No matter how talented a wizard he was.
Suddenly, Harry turned and stepped away from our hiding spot, almost taking the cloak with him and exposing me. That would have been difficult for Hagrid to explain to Madame Maxine, who it appeared were on some sick version of a date.
"Merlin, Harry," I whispered, my fingers catching the material just in time. "Wait up."
On our walk back up to the castle and to the Common Room, I struggled to keep up with Harry; he was walking so quickly.
"Dragons," he finally whispered, as we snuck through the castle doors.
"It will be ok, Harry. We will figure it out!" I was panicking, but knew he had to be feeling so much more in this moment. "We'll tell Hermione and figure it out."
Harry's only response was to walk even faster through the deserted and darkened corridors and stairways of the school.
"Balderdash!" he all but yelled to a poor, sleeping Fat Lady when we finally made it to Gryffindor Tower. And he looked around frantically as we climbed through the portrait hole and finally took the cloak off. Luckily for his meeting with Sirius, the Common Room was empty.
I muttered a quick "Goodnight," to Harry and headed for the stairs to my room, knowing he would want privacy to talk to Sirius.
But a man's voice saying, "Harry Potter," had me whipping around, feeling for my wand in my pocket.
Harry was kneeling before the fireplace, which had a handsome head floating in it. "Hi!" he exclaimed, sounding like a little kid.
This was the infamous Sirius Black.
"And who's this?" Sirius's floating head asked Harry, before nodding towards me, where I still stood gobsmacked by the stairs.
Harry turned to me, and smiled the first true smile I had seen on his face since he had won the quidditch match weeks ago. "Brilliant, you're still here, Eliza. Come meet Sirius!"
I walked over, and gave an awkward wave to Sirius in the fire as I knelt next to Harry by the fire. He was much more handsome than Hermione and Harry had described. They had said he looked like a skeleton with long, dirty hair. But this man certainly didn't look like a skeleton. Not at all.
"Nice to finally meet you, Eliza. Harry here has told me so much about you." he said, smiling at Harry before his grey eyes landed on my own again. "Ah, I see you have Lily's eyes, as well." Pride swelled in my chest at any comparison to my late aunt.
Sirius continued, "I have always wanted to thank you for being Harry's only true family for so many years. It means more to me than you will ever know."
My throat felt thick with emotion at his kind words, and all I managed to get out was, "It's nice to meet you too-"
"It's dragons, Sirius. The first task is dragons." Harry cut me off, unable to contain himself for a moment more.
I stood from my place by the fire, touched Harry lightly on the shoulder, and left them to discuss all of the things they needed to discuss.
I would be there in the morning to help Harry.
Sirius was right, I was Harry's true family, and I fully intended to help him make it through this tournament unscathed.
….
I spent the next few days tucked away in the library with Harry and Hermione, first trying to figure out how to subdue a fully grown dragon and then helping Harry practice summoning charms.
I even owled Maxwell to cancel our tutoring session for Monday night. He wrote back quickly and said that he understood. Then he had written something in French at the bottom of the parchment, before signing his name.
"Famille d'abord, Famille toujours"
I assumed he was talking about family, but didn't have time to translate the rest. And seeing how Harry scowled at me everytime Maxwell's name was brought up, I didn't ask them if they knew what it meant.
The morning of the First Task was suddenly upon us, and I woke with a pit in my stomach. Harry may have mastered the Accio charm, but the fact remained that he still had to face a real life dragon later that day.
I took a deep breath before getting out of bed, and plastered a brave face on.
Classes that day were utterly pointless. None of my classmates could concentrate, and even the teachers seemed distracted.
In Transfiguration that morning, McGonagall had been so preoccupied with very apparent worry that instead of turning her teapot into a tortoise, she had turned it into a miniature dragon that shot fire from it's spout.
Hagrid must have spilled the beans to her about what the first task entailed. I winced when I saw the scaly, little thing open its wings, but the rest of the class giggled and cheered as it took flight, spilling hot tea on anyone it flew over.
"Oh, heavens," McGonagall said, before absentmindedly waving her wand, vanishing the miniature beast, and setting us to work on an essay.
I smiled at Harry over lunch, but he couldn't exactly muster one back and sort of grimaced at me. His fair skin was paler than normal, and his hands shook slightly as he lifted his kidney pie to his mouth. He only ate two bites before giving up and staring straight ahead, at nothing. He was still sitting there when I stood to leave.
The whole school was excited, even more excited than more a quidditch match, I'd say. And the fact that we had to sit through our afternoon classes was ludicrous to most of us, besides Hermione of course.
"Can't believe we have to go sit in Snape's bloody potions class right now," George said, as I with the twins to head to class.
"Total rubbish," Fred nodded, "Maybe we should drop a few dung bombs to clear out the dungeons."
"Don't!" I shouted, nerves taking over. "Snape will know it was you two, and then keep you back, and give you detention or something terrible, Harry needs us all there for support!" I was rambling.
The twins both threw an arm over my shoulder as we made it to the Entrance Hall.
"Nervous, there, Love?" Fred asked, smiling down warmly at me.
"Aren't you?" I asked. They didn't know about the dragons, but surely they had to realize that Harry was in for some sort of danger.
"Of course I am, Little Eliza, but Harry is going to do brilliantly. He always does." Fred said, giving my shoulder a squeeze.
"Now that," George said with a twinkle in his eye, nodding his head in the direction of someone in a Beauxbatons uniform walking out of the school doors, "Makes us nervous."
I realized with a start that it was Maxwell.
The twins released me and started walking backwards towards the stairs to the dungeons, with matching grins overtaking their faces.
"We'll want to hear about these "tutoring" sessions after the task, Little Eliza." George said, actually doing air quotes around tutoring.
"Then we will decide if we approve of this french boy!" Fred said, laughing, before they both turned around and disappeared into a crowd of students.
"There is nothing to approve of!" I shouted back, but they didn't hear me.
….
I audibly sighed in relief when Professor Babbling finally dismissed the class from Ancient Runes that afternoon.
But my relief was quickly squashed when I realized who was walking next to me as I left the classroom.
Malfoy.
I quickened my step, but he did the same.
Bloody hell.
"In a hurry to see Potter make a fool of himself in front of the whole school, Dursley?" he drawled next to me as we reached the stairs.
"Go away, Malfoy." I felt like I was always saying this to him.
"I wish I could, but, you see, it appears we are headed in the same direction." He said, like I was the dumbest person he'd ever encountered.
I tried to focus on the portraits we were walking past, on the stones of the steps, anything but the serpent to my right and his hateful words.
"It is a shame that Dumbledore allowed such a young wizard into the tournament. He really is done for, isn't he, Dursley?" He continued, not sounding sorry about just the circumstances whatsoever. "You saw how nervous he was at lunch. He's got no shot in hell and even he knows it." He laughed meanly.
"Shut up," I grumbled, but he ignored me.
"I wonder what the first task will be? Hopefully something incredibly dangerous. Just imagine how wonderful life will be at Hogwarts with Potter smashed to bits, lying in the hospital wing for the rest of the year."
Anger coursed through my veins, overtaking any other emotion I was feeling. We were so close to the bottom of the steps, and I could see my friends standing by the doors to the grounds, looking around for me.
"Oh, how sweet would it be if he actually came to a sticky end today. Trying to be brave, just like his idiot parents!" he scoffed, standing closer to me than I realized as we finally came to the bottom of the stairs.
He had crossed a line. I stopped in my tracks and whipped around to look at him. He smirked when he saw my murderous expression.
"Fuck you, Malfoy." I spat, feeling angry tears filling my eyes, "You are the worst person I have ever known." I said, meaning every word. "And I hate you." I added in a scathing whisper. I'm sure he didn't care a fig about how I felt about him, but I just had to say it once.
I took one more look at him before turning away towards my friends. He looked shocked that I had stood up for myself, finally. But instead of his face morphing into a smirk like it usually did when he succeeded in pissing someone off, his eyes stayed wide and were, maybe, just a little bit regretful at having finally pushed me over the edge.
I didn't look back as I made my way to my friends, wiping the tears that had started to slide down my cheeks before they could see them.
….
Harry not only survived the First Task, but he tied for first place with Victor Krum.
And afterwards, Charlie had hugged me so hard my feet came off the ground, causing Tilly to sigh audibly.
And Malfoy had looked furious at the outcome of the Task.
All in all, it had ended up being a pretty great day.