You don't want me there, You just shut me out, You don't know me - Avril Lavigne
Harry came back to the Common Room without Elizabeth and Ron looked at him suspiciously.
"Where's Elizabeth?" he asked.
A lump caught in Harry's throat but he looked Ron in the eye and said, "She decided on going to the library."
"What did you talk about?" Hermione inquired. She'd seen Elizabeth leave a few minutes after Harry abruptly exited the Common Room. They'd both been gone for a half-hour, or at least, Harry was. Elizabeth had yet to come back.
"Sirius," Harry answered truthfully.
"I think you did a little more than that," Hermione accused.
Ron sat straight up and looked at Harry surprised. Harry tried to look taken aback, but Hermione can usually see through a façade like nobody's business.
"Did you kiss another girl?" Hermione asked in the same accusing tone.
"Maybe, why?" Harry inquired.
"Because…Cho wouldn't like it…you were going out, you know…" Hermione muttered deprecatingly.
"She's not here, this year, is she? Hermione, we haven't been going out in about a year and a half. Besides, she was going with Michael Corner before I realized what was happening," Harry reminisced, trying to change the subject.
"Did you, or did you not kiss Elizabeth?" Ron questioned breathlessly. He could tell it was going to happen, but he didn't know that it would happen now.
Harry didn't answer. He just looked at Ron with an expression that said, 'What do you think?' Harry went to his favorite chair by the fire to read and a couple minutes later, Elizabeth came back.
"Hey, guys, what did I miss?" she asked with a bounce in her step as she entered the Common Room. She had a small pile of books in her arms.
"You just missed Harry's confession," Ron teased.
"What did he confess?" Elizabeth asked. She had a feeling it wasn't the fact that he missed Sirius.
"Well, he didn't exactly confess…You know Harry. He doesn't kiss and tell…" Ron said slowly to let the words sink in.
Elizabeth knew they were waiting for her to blush, for her to prove it. She shot a knowing glance at Harry before she went upstairs to her dormitory to write to her parents. She didn't want to tell them what else happened after the kiss. She, personally, didn't quite believe it, yet. She was still in shock.
'Why would Harry ask me out?' was the question bouncing off the walls of Elizabeth's mind the rest of the night.
"Did you see her face, Harry?" Ron questioned, "I think she doesn't want to believe it happened."
"Ron," Harry snapped, "Do you ever just shut up?"
"Sorry, I didn't know it was a sore spot," Ron apologized.
'It's not a sore spot so bugger off,' he thought. Harry picked up a random book, left on the table.
The Marauders' Random Ramblings of Wisdom was the title. Harry wanted to read more, but just then, Tonks walked into the common room.
"Dumbledore's sent me to tell you all that pay very close attention to Astronomy and Divination, as Firenze will still be teaching it. You know where stars are supposed to be, and when, but you will discover something amiss, and when you know what it is, go to see the headmaster. He is most anxious to see who will see it first, so that he may tell them what's about to take place," she announced.
"Well, I guess because the three of us don't take divination, and only Hermione takes astronomy, I guess me and Harry won't find out what it is. Hermione, you'll just have to tell us," Ron shrugged.
"Elizabeth takes divination," Harry added helpfully.
"Oh, right. Firenze'll tell her anything," Ron emphasized, just to get a rise out of Harry. When no such thing happened, he sulked.
"Well, yeah…that's what Dumbledore wanted you guys to know…I'll be seeing you," Tonks said as she walked out.
Elizabeth came back down stairs with a star chart just as the portrait hole closed.
"What's that for?" Hermione asked.
"Well…I noticed a couple stars that were off course. Zubeneschamali is just one of them…then there's an unknown asteroid, I'll have to ask about that…"
"What do you mean? Of course?" Hermione asked. "Earth's the thing that's moving," she added matter-of-factly.
"Yes, but, judging on where we are, and where the stars are supposed to be, they're not following the right pattern. It's almost like they've waited to just get out of line," Elizabeth explained.
"Maybe Firenze doesn't have to tell her…" Ron mumbled.
"Tell me what?" Elizabeth questioned.
"Well, Tonks just came in here with weird news. We're supposed to be watching the skies in our classes. Once we discover what's going on, we've got to go tell Dumbledore," Ron informed.
"That's a shock," Elizabeth commented.
"We have no clue what's going on," Hermione stated.
On September the first, everyone went down to the Great Hall for the feast and was greeted by the other people in their house.
"We thought you weren't coming to school this year when we saw you weren't on the train," Dean Thomas said upon seeing Harry, Ron, Elizabeth and Hermione.
The four of them went to potions the next day to find that Snape wasn't harping on them as much as usual, but he was still strict. Then they went their separate ways, as Elizabeth had divination, and Hermione had Arithmancy.
"Today, you are to pick a planet, star, or asteroid to see what it does. Say your star crosses mars. Then we would decipher it to mean you 'cross' somebody over and get them angry. Do you understand?" Firenze requested.
"I thought the planets and things didn't trifle with the little problems of the humans?" a Slytherin asked out loud.
"Please, Ms. Bullstrode, remember to raise your hand in the future if you have a question. True, they do not trifle with earth, in general, but if you were to notice, the heavenly bodies seem to have minds of their own. Right now, we are trifling with them. If you put your name on this paper, those planets will be required to follow your patterns, as though they have to reveal your future. They'll not be too easy to read, but you should see something similar to astrology in this. Do you understand, now, Ms. Bullstrode?"
Millicent, angry that her question was so easily answered, muttered, "Yes."
Firenze passed a sheet of parchment around to have people sign up. Elizabeth saw the asteroid, Pallas, unpicked, so she signed up for it.
"So, what did 'dear Elizabeth' and Firenze talk about today?" Ron asked as Elizabeth left the classroom.
"I thought you would have learned your lesson last year," Elizabeth snapped throwing a glance at Harry.
"Did you ask about that unknown asteroid?" Hermione questioned.
Elizabeth's eyes widened as she remembered. "Shoot…I'm sorry, guys," Elizabeth apologized.
"Just as I thought. Oh, well… I'm going to ask Professor Sinistra when I see her," Hermione replied.
"All right. What have you done for the last fort-five minutes?" Elizabeth asked.
"Nothing," Ron replied.
"I read this book called The Marauders' Random Ramblings of Wisdom. It's got maps and spells, even information on how to become an animagus!"
"That's great, Harry, but let's not forget that the book wasn't really published, and that is was written by a bunch of seventh years who knew no more than us," Hermione interrupted.
"Hermione, the Marauders knew more about magic than we even scraped. Elizabeth might understand some of it, seeing how she's an animagus and…"
"She's an animagus?" Hermione inquired, looking at Elizabeth.
"I thought you knew," Ron commented.
"No, I didn't. Well, this will be the subject of an important discussion with Professor McGonagall," Hermione said with satisfaction.
"She already knows," Elizabeth replied.
"Is that why you were reading during the transfiguration final?" Ron asked in a disgusted tone. "I thought you finished early!"
"I didn't have to take it at all."
Ron sulked, and Hermione looked appalled.
"Look, if you guys are out to hate me, go ahead. But don't think that I will just sit back and take it," said Elizabeth, reading in between the lines.
She practically ran to her next lesson, charms.