Thick Smoke

Friends

Defense Against the Dark Arts became quickly one of the best if not the best lesson that year. Lupin had a soft spot for Gryffindors and he made every lesson fun and helpful. His homework was also more about practice than theory and he knew how to make himself liked. The only ones who loathed him were Slytherins - for obvious reasons.

Strangely enough, at lunch after class, Hermione had notes for both Ancient Ruins and History of Magic, which were at the same time. It wasn't even the first time that happened.

"You're quite a library rat, aren't you?" Eliza whispered, making Hermione look up at her confused. "It must be hard taking notes by yourself in the library when no one notices. Besides, they sound like you were actually in the class."

Hermione frowned while Ron and Harry, who clearly heard Eliza, laughed. They stopped once their friend glared at them before she glared at her bully.

"You sounded just like a Slytherin." Hermione snapped, making Eliza shift a bit in her seat.

It was a weird, seeing as Eliza had only begun to act as herself around her classmates. In her ears, nothing she said was mean or intended to be; she was only teasing Hermione but it seemed her tone wasn't exactly the best.

"But that's true, you know. I'm sure I've seen this in Dean's notes-" Seeing Hermione glaring at him again and even kicking him under the table, he retracted his words,"- or somewhere in a book," He mumbled, going back to his homework.

Divination was still a class Eliza couldn't fully comprehend. At the end of what felt like a long old movie, she sneaked through the crowd just so she could get into the hall before Lavender would catch her again and tell her again of the things 'she had seen in the signs around her, very bad too'.

Having no idea where she was going, Eliza made an unfortunate turn that slammed her straight into Malfoy.

"So, we meet at last, huh? And your knights aren't here to protect you." He said.

She blinked twice before she responded, "Well, goodbye!" She said quickly before she rushed past him.

For some reason, Malfoy seemed like a bad omen at the moment and she wanted to have a silent first year at Hogwarts.

It went on like that for the next two months, getting friendlier with most Gryffindors and even a few Ravenclaws.

Eliza kept her distance from Slytherins but couldn't help and meet Malfoy from time to time in the corridor. He would either snarl or act all mighty in front of his friends; both were an issue for her friends who seemed to take it more personal than she was.

Her relationship with Harry was pretty much nonexistent. She was avoiding him like plague and wouldn't even stay around if the others weren't there. That proved to be quite difficult in October, when she decided she wasn't in need of Hogsmeade and got stuck in Hogwarts with none other than Harry.

"Why didn't you go with the others?" He asked, jumping on the couch next to her in the Common Room.

She froze for a moment before she loosened up.

"I don't feel like sweets," She answered, making the glasses boy chuckle. "What about you?" She asked out of respect.

He scowled before giving his answer. "I didn't get the chance to have the pass signed. I don't think my uncle would have signed it anyway," He mumbled grumpily.

She nodded and turned back to reading about teenagers and their interests.

"Do you want help?"He asked grabbing her full attention.

"Help?" She asked in confusion. He nodded and pointed at her book, her eyes glancing between the object in her hands and the boy next to her. "Oh. Well, it doesn't seem very complicated." She responded, making Harry laugh lightly.

"You have no idea what you're reading, do you?"

Eliza glanced at her book before she shrugged and gave up. She seriously had no idea what she was reading.

"It's a magazine for teenage girls. It's about how to use make-up and talk to boys," He added, much bemused from what she could see.

Once she realized what she was holding, she quickly pushed it to him. That only caused more laughter from Harry and suddenly, watching him like that, he seemed normal.

"People fuss a lot over you," Suddenly, awkwardness filled the room again. "Why don't you fight back the attention?"

"I don't want attention," He replied quickly, getting really uncomfortable. It was a special trait, rising tension so quickly. "I never wanted it. I just-"

"Have a predilection to cause trouble." She finished his sentence, remembering Remus's stories of his childhood at Hogwarts.

"You've been avoiding me all this time, haven't you?" Harry asked bluntly since she seemed very bold.

"Yes." Eliza really was bold. "You make me feel threatened. I don't know how to explain this but I feel like you could just run away when I need you the most."

She wasn't good at expressing herself at all but that was exactly how it felt.

"Why would I do that?"

She shrugged, her eyes moving down to her hands.

"I won't do that. I don't leave my friends behind, Eliza. We are friends, right?" He assured her, not sure if he should pat her shoulder or just not move at all.

"You can call me Liz. Eliza is too formal between friends," She mumbled, her eyes still on her hands.

Harry smiled softly and realized not going to Hogsmeade wasn't going to be as bad as he imagined.