All of the Gryffindor seventh years were sitting, waiting for their student-teacher to start.

"Since we did so well on Patronuses, I thought we could start the short chapter on vampires. I need a summary of it before the end of class. I've got to do it, too, so don't be too mad," Harry informed.

The chapter on vampires was very short, and most of the class finished it before half the period was over.

"Now that we're all finished, I was told to ask you a few questions." A couple students groaned at this. Harry ignored it and continued. "What is the difference between a vampire and a living corpse." He looked around the room and chose Ron.

"Erm…" he paused. "A living corpse doesn't know what it's doing. A vampire has a little more control over its hunger. A living corpse is still decaying, and a vampire's body regains strength when fed," he answered hesitantly.

"Nice answer, Mr. Weasley. Ten points to Gryffindor," Professor Blade interrupted.

"Okay then…Next question. How can you tell someone is a vampire?" Harry asked. Only Dean and Elizabeth raised their hands. To make it look not at all suspicious, he called on Dean.

"Their eyes turn blood red when they're about to make a kill. They usually look young but feel old. A vampire has a sense of attracting its victim. It sort of pulls and pushes away at the same time, increasing the magnetism. Some vampires are said to have superhuman strength," was Dean's answer.

"Excellent, Mr. Thomas. Another ten points to Gryffindor," Blade added.

"Right. Last question," Harry promised. "How can you tell a half vampire from a regular person. Elizabeth." He had no choice but to call on her this time. She was the only one with her hand raised.

"A person who is cursed to live the half life has rather odd eyes. Their eyes change color when their moods fluctuate rapidly. They usually don't drink blood, but when they are aroused…" Here Elizabeth paused for effect. "It can lead them to go insane with bloodlust."

Harry didn't know why, but the thought of half vampires' eyes changing colors made him very disturbed about one of the professors in Hogwarts.

Things went pretty normal. Firenze gave Elizabeth a date, and she almost ran to the classroom.

"Is your dream still disturbing you?" Firenze asked her with concern.

"Yes. I haven't had it repeat itself, but just knowing I had it in the first place…" She trailed off, trying to forget the surge of grief that had flooded her since the dream.

"Please, enlighten me on this dream that plagues you," Firenze coaxed.

Elizabeth told him everything, except for who the man was at the end. She couldn't bring herself to speak of his name to anyone. Firenze took his time before he finally spoke again. He gazed up at the ceiling, trying to read what the dream said.

"Very hard times are coming," he said morbidly. "These storm clouds, did they do anything besides block out your light and speak?"

"Yeah. When they were around me, the air got real cold like. I felt the cold all the way to my insides," Elizabeth explained.

"Then there is the chance they are representing dementors. I've noticed that Mars has the most peculiar conjunction with Pallas and Venus this interval. It is, by far, the oddest thing I have ever seen. This conjunction has some significance here that I can not quite place.

"If your dreams and what I'm seeing on this ceiling say one thing, and only one thing, it is that danger is coming. Dark and hard times such as you have never known, Elizabeth, are ahead for you."

They sat in silence, with Elizabeth contemplating this cryptic revelation.

"Has someone you loved died recently?" Firenze asked suddenly.

"No, why?"

"The phoenix is a symbol of resurrection in most dreams. In your dream, it falls, dies, and transforms into a black dog. Then the dog turns human. Am I right?"

"Yeah…"

"So, if I'm correct, your dream was a reflection of a person you just lost," Firenze explained.

"But I didn't lose this man. I didn't know him. I just felt all these emotions, like it was my fault he died; if it wasn't for me, he'd still be alive; he was my only family; and a whole bunch more that I didn't understand," Elizabeth ranted vehemently.

"Did someone you're close to lose a loved one?"

Then it dawned on Elizabeth. "Yeah. I know who the man is, now. He's my friend's godfather."

"Complete empathy? This is very odd." He paused again. "That is all I can say on this subject. I hope you understand what you're going to be up against, Elizabeth."

"I will, now that you've helped me. Thank you, Firenze." Elizabeth walked out of the classroom. She quickly found her way back to the Gryffindor Common Room.

"How'd the talk go?" Harry asked.

"Alright," was the abrupt answer from Elizabeth. Harry saw her face blush as she walked up the stairs to her dormitory. She felt mentally drained and thought it would be wise to take a nap. Well, it was working, until a screech brought her back to the world of the living. She swore as she tried to see what happened.

"Sorry, sorry. I'd forgotten all about that," Harry said, apologizing to a couple first year girls who were trying to go up. Harry clumsily got up to see Elizabeth watching him. "There you are," he said.

"You wanted to talk with me?" Elizabeth asked. She slid down the flat stairs and landed at the bottom on her feet.

Harry looked at her for a moment, her hair in disarray, and her clothes slightly crumpled, and thought 'What was I going to say? Oh yeah…'  "Yeah, er…remember what Ron said, the other day…" he start, his cheeks flaming, "about you fancying Firenze…er…you really don't, do you?"

"Of course not, Harry. How could I? The man's part horse," Elizabeth replied drolly. Any other occasion, Elizabeth's comic appearance plus her amusing tone would have had Harry in stitches.

But, today, Harry didn't find this very funny; he still didn't look convinced, even though he tried to make a sound that could have been a nervous laugh. "Well…then….who do you fancy?" he questioned suddenly. 'Stupid,' he thought immediately after he said it. He could literally feel the blood pounding throughout his face and ears, just like Ron when Hermione asked him an embarrassing question.

Harry didn't even notice Elizabeth felt the same way.

"I…Uh…happen to really like…" Elizabeth stuttered. She stopped, took a deep breath, and started again, this time, confidently, "I really like—"

The rest of that sentence was cut off when Ginny grabbed Elizabeth and pulled her back upstairs unexpectedly. "See you later, then," Elizabeth called out as she was being driven away.

"Yeah," Harry muttered as he headed over by Ron.

"You should have seen yourself, Harry," Ron said, looking over his homework. "Your face would have done a beet proud."

"Oh, sod off," Harry grumbled irritably as he sat down. Next thing he knew, he could hear Ginny yelling, sounding remarkably like her mother, all the way in the dormitory.

"WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?!"

There was a murmur Harry knew was Elizabeth. 'She won't yell unless provoked a bit more,' he knew. He couldn't make out what she said.

"Could you see the way he's been looking at you? Have you ever noticed that when Ron teases you about Firenze, his knuckles get white? His face is forever red! Why didn't you just tell him from the start to stop prolonging the suffering?" it wasn't screamed as loud, but it was still audible from the Common Room.

There was another pause that made Harry believe that Elizabeth had said something.

"YOU'VE GOT SOME NERVE!" Ginny exploded unexpectedly.

The sudden outburst made Ron start right out of his seat.

"You should talk! When Harry told me about his life, not once did he say you told him you liked him!" Elizabeth retorted.

That time, everybody heard Elizabeth. 'I think Ginny touched a sensitive spot,' he thought. He didn't hear anything else until Elizabeth came back down, her face completely flushed.

"Can you guys help me with my homework?" she timidly asked Ron and Harry.

They agreed and went to sit by her, as there were no more seats for her where they were sitting. Fortunately, by the end of it all, they all could barely breathe from laughing so hard from the various jokes that were told or pulled that night.

(A/N: This is going to be quite long before the end…^_^ YAY!!!! Guys! Sorry this took so long! I got a sign from God and life took over! If this chapter wasn't worth the wait, I'm terribly sorry! And! Next chapter might be up on Monday! I've got another four day weekend and my punishment is over!!!! ^_^ YAAAAAAAAAAAHOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!

Naja607: Tell Joe I said hi back! How is Mrs. Biggerstaff, by the way? Lol!!! Good times, Mica, good times. ^_~.  Thanks for reviewing, again. Really, doesn't this get redundant? A ride, huh? Coolie. I never thought of it like that…Hmm…^_^

Rocky235: Your opinion means a lot to me. Thank you. Oh, yes. I try to have a lot of Slytherin bashing…^_^ Although Elizabeth Pentillo keeps trying to be that Ramirez kid's friend…Honestly, I don't understand her sometimes…^_^. The future? But who dies, then? Or does someone die? I wonder…Thanks much for your numerous reviews…each and every one is specially appreciated! (jeez, how many times am I going to say this???) *many times, because I am so pathetic.*

Zdanz: Thanks ever so much! This update came as fast as it could. Sorry if the wait was a bit long. I try to update once a week, but sometimes life takes over…*coughcoughorpeoplegotoirelandcoughcough*

Kagome: Yo! Kagome! You review once and are never heard from again? Well, you have one more chapter before I stop mentioning you! *Like that's a big threat…-_-;;* Lol! Just kidding! I hope you review soon, though!)