Just barely fulfilling my Saturday update schedule! Yes, this is very late on Saturday, but it still counts! Hope you enjoy it, this chapter explores a new aspect of the story/

"Everyone keeps staring at me." Harry muttered to Elizabeth as they walked through one of the corridors after lessons. Elizabeth had just left her Muggle Studies classroom when she saw Harry walking by and joined him. He had just finished his Divination class for the week.

"Well, you did just battle a dragon and walk away unscathed." Elizabeth pointed out.

Harry gestured to the bandage on his leg.

"Relatively unscathed." Elizabeth corrected.

"Yeah. I'm glad people don't hate me anymore, but I can't stand all this attention." Harry lamented.

After Harry obtained the egg, most of the school realized that he wouldn't submit himself to do something so dangerous for attention. Having an injury did help his case.

Things were better between Harry and Ron, though their friendship was still a little rocky after the split, and everything Ron said about Harry. Elizabeth was happy for her friend, she knew how much it hurt him when Ron went against him.

"You know why they are looking at you. Especially the girls." Elizabeth teased.

"Don't remind me." Harry groaned as they reached the Fat Lady's portrait.

"You've got to find someone soon, Harry. Seriously." Elizabeth reminded him.

"I know, I know. Your mum was really clear about that." Harry said.

"She's right. A date won't get itself." Elizabeth joked.

A few days later found Elizabeth with her mum and Malcolm in Minerva's quarters, enjoying a cup of tea and playing a game of Wizard's Chess with Malcolm.

"Oh, that poor, poor boy. He's famous, smart, and good-looking. How will he ever find himself a date?" Malcolm asked as he took one of Elizabeth's pawns.

"Stop joking! He's nervous about it!" Elizabeth reprimanded.

"Well, he shouldn't be! He's got everything going for him! He's a young man, he's got loads of options! All I've got is old hags for girlfriend options!" Malcolm complained.

"Well don't take it out on Harry. He's got a good reason to be nervous. He's afraid a girl will only want to go with him because he's Harry Potter." Elizabeth enunciated his name for emphasis.

"As biased as you are, brother, she has a point." Minerva said, looking up from her book.

"Oh, bladi bladi dah! Be quiet, you!" Malcolm replied.

The game resumed, and after a little while, Malcolm posed a question.

"I know you need an older year to ask you, otherwise you can't go. Has anyone asked you to the Ball yet?"

Elizabeth shook her head. "Even if someone did, I wouldn't be able to go."

"Why not?" Malcolm asked.

"I'm engaged." Elizabeth stated.

"WHAT?!" Both siblings asked.

"I'm engaged." Elizabeth repeated, moving one of her pieces forward.

"What? Why? How?" Malcolm sputtered.

"Could you explain, dear?" Minerva asked, looking slightly concerned.

"Well, I was betrothed to him when I was very little. Everyone was in arranged marriages back then. That way we could keep existing since our numbers were so few. I never met him, but he was a family friend. His family lived quite far away." Elizabeth said.

"So you were engaged to someone, and you never thought to bring that up?" Malcolm asked slowly, clearly still confused.

"Well, I figured it out pretty early on that no one does that now. So, I planned to not bring it up until necessary, because I thought this would happen." Elizabeth said simply.

Both of the McGonagall siblings stared at her, not sure what to say.

"What? I might be a little old-fashioned on some things, like referring to dating as courting, but I'm not an imbecile. I know I do things differently because of how I grew up, and I know it doesn't make a lot of sense to you both, or anyone else, really. So I keep the more odd things to myself." she said.

"Well." Minerva said.

Malcolm was still puzzled. "Wait. So, you're telling me that at thirteen, wait, younger than that, you became engaged, and you never even met him?"

"Well I was supposed to, but his family had to leave after a muggle mob found them. But they had every intention of coming back. All I knew about him was that his name was Frederick." Elizabeth replied.

"And you can't date anyone since you are engaged to someone who, pardon me, is dead?" Malcolm asked.

"Well, I could be with someone else. But it would dishonor the engagement. I don't know if he ever was with another girl. If he never was, it would be unfair that I got to be courting another." Elizabeth told him.

"I like the sound of that." Minerva said.

"Minerva!" Malcolm reprimanded.

"What?" she asked.

"You never want her to be with a boy, because of a thousand-year-old engagement?!" Malcolm asked.

"I have had teaching experience with every male student in this school, and I can assure you that there are a select few I would allow her to date! She is thirteen years old, you shouldn't be pressuring her to be with a boy!" Minerva fired back.

Malcolm huffed.

Elizabeth giggled.

Elizabeth, Ginny, and Luna were all studying in the library one Thursday afternoon, quizzing each other for an Astronomy test.

"No, that's Cassiopeia, Gin. But you were close!" Elizabeth encouraged.

"Ugh, this is so hard! Why do we need to learn all the stars? We have location spells!" Ginny groaned, frowning at her notes.

"Well, they are quite helpful for navigation." Luna reasoned.

Ginny placed her head on the table, groaning. "I'm never going to get this." She said.

Luna and Elizabeth were giggling when Neville walked up to their table.

"Oh, hey Neville." Elizabeth said through giggles.

"Hi." he said, slightly shakily.

"Are you okay, Neville?" Elizabeth asked, concerned for her friend.

"Oh, um, yes, I just… erm… can I see you? Over there? Alone?" Neville asked, very nervous.

What was he talking about? "Sure." Elizabeth agreed, mostly because she was curious.

"I'll be right back." she said to Luna and Ginny.

"Sure you will." Ginny said, grinning cheekily.

Elizabeth followed Neville to the back of the library. What did he want?

When they arrived, he looked even more nervous and pale, which was saying a lot, considering where they lived.

"So… what's going on?" She asked him.

"I just needed to ask you something." Neville said.

"What?" Elizabeth asked. Wait… something was off… was he doing what she thought he was doing?

"Well, we're pretty good friends, right?" Neville asked.

"Yeah…" Elizabeth said, getting the feeling that she knew what was about to happen.

"And, well, you wouldn't be able to go to the Ball since you're only a third year, and I still need a date, so… if you want, would you go to the Yule Ball with me?"

Soooo, that happened. Thoughts? Also, to fit what just happened, what is your favorite ship and why?