A/N: Here's my second of two updates because it's been a while. Sorry again.
Singled Out:
Even though Elizabeth was enjoying watching Harry's magic show and Harry was enjoying giving the show, dinner was about to begin and the two friends had to pick themselves off the ground and head slowly to the Great Hall. The two sat down by themselves at their place at the Hufflepuff table seeing as Hermione and the others were coming later after going to the library.
Half-heartedly, Elizabeth pilled her plate and Harry did the same, giving Elizabeth reassuring smiles every time he caught her eye. Things were going relatively well, no one was staring at them or bugging them and Elizabeth was beginning to enjoy herself until she lifted her head and moving platinum blonde hair caught her eye.
Draco was slowly but surely making his way towards the two and Elizabeth's whole body stiffened. Harry, noticing this change looked up and glared at the Slytherin when he caught sight of him. When Draco reached the table he made a movement to sit but Harry spoke before he could, "I don't think you should sit here Malfoy." His voice was a deathly calm.
Draco's eyes sought the muggle girl's but Elizabeth looked away with tears in her eyes. For a minute Draco was going to sit down anyways and try to explain, to apologize for being an ass but pride overcame the battle and he walked away out of the large hall.
"Thanks Harry," Elizabeth wiped her eyes to make sure she wasn't crying and then looked around to see if anyone had noticed. Luckily, no one had, and if they had, they weren't making a big deal out of it.
"No problem Lizzie," Harry smiled once more and then they finished their meal in silence.
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The double class of Transfiguration didn't fix matters when Draco stayed persistent in not apologizing. Professor McGonagall had already made the seating plan final so Elizabeth couldn't move so she slumped in her seat between Draco and Harry, paying less attention to the teacher at the front.
"Now class, today we will be breaking back into old schedule by transfiguring a toad into a teacup," Professor McGonagall demonstrated for the class and then set them to their work.
All the students pulled out their wands except one, Elizabeth. Harry looked at her and after a few seconds, others looked at her also, waiting to see the new girl's wand. After she looked around but still did not draw her wand, Harry nudged her. "Elizabeth you need your wand for this."
"I don't have a wand," she said clearly so any nosy person wanting to hear could do so easily. A few giggled, others laughed, some even snickered.
"I thought you got one with Dumbledore the other day," Harry didn't bother keeping his voice down seeing as everyone, including the teacher was listening to the conversation in progress.
"We went to get a wand, but Mr. Ollivander said I didn't need one," she stated calmly, hiding that she was squirming mentally with all the staring.
"Huh?" many shared the same answer.
"Something about not needing a wand to channel my magic or something like that," Elizabeth shrugged.
Hermione and Professor McGonagall gasped at the same time while everyone else still looked confused. The teacher began to explain to the rest of the class why she had gasped, "a few powerful wizards and witches never needed wands because their magic was either too strong for them or they didn't need the help of channeling their magic. They are very rare, one who hasn't needed a wand hasn't been born in nearly a millennium."
Now many others gasped and turned back to look at the now blushing girl, "well I'm certainly not powerful, I guess I just have good concentration. But really, I don't even know what I'm doing or how to turn this toad into a teacup."
She waved her hand over the toad in front of her to indicate her point but instead of nothing happening, the toad shone a very pale blue for a second and then next moment it was a beautifully crafted teacup.
She cleared her throat and giggled nervously, "I guess I'll take that comment back."
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The rest of class mainly consisted of McGonagall handing Elizabeth random items and asking her to transform them into something else. Many the girl could do until she reached complicated creatures like cats and the last she bothered trying of the hard ones; a great horned owl.
Many of the other students had come over to watch but the teacher continued to send them away to work on their toad-teacup assignment. Finally the bell rang for lunch and the class cleared out to head to the Great Hall. McGonagall congratulated Elizabeth on her wonderful work and told her that she would see her either next week or during Dumbledore's lessons.
Elizabeth nodded with a smile and then let Harry lead her out of the classroom. Outside, Draco was waiting for the two. Elizabeth stopped dead and stared at him with hurt and confused eyes. The Gryffindor stood slightly in front of the girl and glared at the Slytherin. Luckily the corridor was empty. "What do you want Malfoy?"
"I wish to speak with Lizzie," Draco hid the desperation from his voice as best he could but he thought Potter might have heard it anyways. 'Curses!'
"You don't deserve to call her that after what you did before," he spat but Elizabeth put an arm on his shoulder and stood slightly in front of Harry, staring at Draco with a blank look.
"Alone Potter."
"I'm not going anywhere after the fucking lies you said about her before. I'm staying here for a reason to curse you to hell," Harry stood tall but when the muggle girl turned to look at him, his glare faltered. Elizabeth's tear rimmed eyes reassured him she would be fine and he sighed, "fine but if I hear one thing bad about this conversation, you're as good as dead."
He stormed off to leave the other two alone but stopped and stayed just around the corner. If Malfoy was going to try something, he would pay. Draco looked at Elizabeth and his breath caught at the sight of her.
Her arms were crossed protectively over her chest and she had a protective stance about her. Her blue/gray eyes shone with tears, but at that moment he was willing to admit that she was the most beautiful person he had ever met and that he might have some sort of feeling for her.
He cleared his throat, "Lizzie-Elizabeth," he changed when she shifted, "what I said yesterday was…I was such an ass. I was…scared and just started yelling random insults. I do that often, you can ask Potter from experience."
He tried to smile but when Elizabeth made no move to crack a smile, his faltered. "What were you scared of?" was all she asked.
He sighed, "of…loving you and being loved."
She snorted, "well you better figure out what the hell you want because I'm not an on-and-off kind of gal. So get your head around it before coming to me because I'm not giving you any of my love until you can give me some in return," and with that she walked bristly away.
'Well, at least she knows, and I guess she loves me. But do I really want that? What would the Slytherins say? What would Voldemort do if he found out?' he sighed. He still had a lot to figure out before he did anything.
He trudged off to the Great Hall for a light lunch. He sat down at the Slytherin table, forcing himself not to look at those sad eyes and picked at his food until it was time for Charms. Seeing Harry lead Elizabeth to her charms room, Draco decided to take a different route.
Entering the Charms room early, he saw Elizabeth sitting alone at one of the desks with her head on her textbook. He considered sitting across the room from her but decided he'd rather sit close to her. Therefore he took the seat beside her so no other Slytherin could.
Elizabeth didn't bother lifting her head until the blonde cleared his throat. She looked at him and sighed. She dropped her head back on her textbook but so her face was looking at the boy.
"Look Lizzie," he was happy when she didn't look upset at him using her nickname so continued, "I think I like you…a lot actually. But I can't have a relationship with you. There are too many people that could find out and kill you or me of both of us. Did Harry tell you about Voldemort?"
"Some, he says he has more to tell me when we have free time," her voice was heavy but she was keeping her calm.
"Well…my father serves him, along with almost all of the Slytherins. If any of them found out, Voldemort would probably either kill us or recruit us. See…I don't want to serve him but the Slytherins think I do and that I'm hanging out with you to recruit you. But you don't want to serve him, believe me…"
"Why not?" she began to ask but others began entering the classroom, quickly followed by Professor Flitwick, the charms teacher.
"I'll explain later," he mouthed and she nodded before turning her head to he small man about to teach her magic.
Professor Flitwick climbed up on top of his pile of books and began telling the class about what spells they would be learning this year. He then set up the desk partners to practice old spells and in Elizabeth and Draco's case, Draco teaching the girl spells.
Once again, many looked at Elizabeth when she didn't pull out her wand but the muggle girl wasn't made a spectacle of like in Transfiguration. Draco and Elizabeth were left more or less in peace, some people from both Ravenclaw and Slytherin watching but mainly concentrating on the assignment.
Draco was fascinated that Elizabeth could do many of the simple spells the first time without a wand but said nothing. Pretty soon the blonde was teaching Elizabeth year 5 spells seeing as she had pretty much mastered the spells from younger years that the boy could remember at the time.
"Honestly Lizzie, you should be in year 7 at this rate. You might as well get Dumbledore to teacher you new spells during your spare instead of old young spells," he said as he lead her to the Headmaster's office before heading off to Herbology. He said his awkward goodbye and Elizabeth pulled out her schedule.
Above the writing that said 'Spare', there was slanted green writing appearing reading 'lemon drops'. She read it in confusion and jumped when the gargoyle guarding the stairway hopped out of the way. She shrugged and climbed the rotating staircase until she reached a large wooden door.
She knocked tentatively and opened the door at Dumbledore's 'enter'. The headmaster was sitting at his desk, which was covered in wizard and muggle trinkets. The royal blue plush chair he was sitting in squeaked as the old man leant back to observe the girl. He conjured an identical chair opposite his and after Elizabeth had settled, he cleared his throat.
"Well Ms. Moon, I have already heard extraordinary things about you," he said with a twinkle in his eyes, "lemon drop?"
"Yes please," Elizabeth took one and popped it into her mouth, Dumbledore doing the same.
"Not only do you not need a wand for magic, you are mastering spells of younger years at an incredible rate. I have been informed that every spell Mr. Malfoy gave you in Charms you succeeded in and you achieved in transforming anything given to you until the amazing complexity of a cat or owl. And to add to this list, you accepted my lemon drop."
"Pardon sir?"
"You are oddly, the first to ever accept my offering of a lemon drop," he said with a chuckle.
"Should I have declined sir?"
"No no, it was entirely your choice. I was merely pointing out an odd coincidence. Now, I'm sure you are bored with the easy spells but I think it would be best if you learnt them anyways to be safe. Sometimes the simplest thing can be the most important. Therefore, you will be learning all the spells there is to know from year 1-5 and then depending on how fast we get through that, I may be inclined to teach you some more challenging and advanced spells."
"I can't wait," she said with a huge smile on her face and Dumbledore smiled.
"There is no need to, now first lets see how much you remember of what you learnt in Transfiguration and Charms today," he rolled up the sleeves of his robes and drew his wand.
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After about an hour and a half Elizabeth's head was starting to hurt. She had mastered all of the first year spells as well as 2nd year and 3rd year spells. Dumbledore had even taught her some simple spells she wouldn't have learnt in school so now she had 'completed' year 1-3. Elizabeth wanted to continue with the lesson but as her headache grew, her concentration dropped and odd trinkets started breaking or flying around the room, much to the amusement of Dumbledore.
"You have made extraordinary progress but you need rest. It will not do for you to be too tired for your regular classes. I shall see you on Friday afternoon and no sooner unless it is necessary. If you wish you can pick up a headache potion from the Infirmary. Good day Ms. Moon."
"Good day sir," she said as she walked slowly towards the door. On her way though, a glint of reflected light hit her eye and she turned to see a small ring sitting, almost forgotten on the table. She turned fully and moved to pick it up but held back just before touching the cool metal of the band.
Her hand hovering an inch above it, she looked at it with curiosity. It was what she assumed to be white gold and the band was quite normal until it reached the design; a jewel she did not know with the band wrapping around it like vines. The stone didn't look like anything she had ever heard of before; clear like a diamond but having a mist-like substance of pale blue swimming around in the center.
She removed her hand and looked at Dumbledore, who was watching her intently. "Good day sir," he inclined his head to her and she left in a rush, closing the wooden door behind her.
A/N: Not much to say. I'll try to get more written soon but don't get your hopes up, this week of school is going to be hectic. Please review.