Thick Smoke

He Was Here

For the rest of the day, Harry and Eliza talked about random stuff until they went for a walk through the castle sometime later.

"I heard rumors about you," Eliza started as they walked around. "You caused a lot of trouble because you have this talent of jumping head first into strange situations." She tried to put it in a way that wouldn't sound rude.

Harry laughed but nodded nonetheless. It was extremely funny how hard she was trying to express her opinions without sounding like a Slytherin, which she wasn't affiliated with in any way.

"I had to do something or else no one would have had. I'm sure you only heard half of the story." He seemed so sure about that.

"Why don't you tell me your side of the story then?" She asked, her eyes widening a bit since she was genuinely interested and curious.

"Well, it's not much to say,"

But he told her anyway.

There was something about her that seemed comfortable and he couldn't help but tell her everything he has been through in the past two years. It was quite hard not to laugh when Harry would say just how brave was Hermione with her witty comments and brilliant mind or how Ron had no choice but get involved since they were friends. It was a friendship that not many had the chance to create.

At some point, they took a turn and found the door to a classroom largely open. Inside was none other than professor Lupin.

His eyes narrowed into two crescent moons when he saw her dark hair popping around the door. He was ready to say something when Harry followed Eliza.

"I see you two are having fun." He commented from the side. "Please come in. I've just taken delivery of Grindylow for our next lesson. Would you like some tea?"

Both students nodded and walked further into the room.

"I'm afraid I only have tea leaves, which I am sure you dread already." He chuckled, making it very obvious that he was talking of Divination.

Eliza eyed the Gindylow which seemed to shake his fist at them before taking the cup of tea from her godfather. Maybe it was the silence that engulfed the room but Remus asked, "Anything worrying you, Harry?"

Eliza saw that as a sign to give them privacy so she quickly got up and placed the tea aside, "Well, I've got to go by the library so..."

Harry nodded and Remus smiled knowingly before he too nodded and called a soft "Take care on the way back," knowing she has been getting lost ever since she arrived.

On the way back to the Common Room, she almost got lost again when she heard someone getting closer to where she was. The brunette witch waited expectantly for whoever it was to save her but once he came into sight, she felt like she should've just asked a painting or something.

"What are you doing here, Molley? Shouldn't you be flapping about with your friends?" Snape asked.

But Eliza's eyes fell on the goblet he was carrying, a strange smell oozing off it.

"What's that?" She asked innocently.

Snape raised an eyebrow, "None of your business." He said before continuing his way. Of course, he couldn't leave before having the final word.

An hour or two later, Eliza was back on wandering the castle, not caring that it could actually be dangerous to open every room she found.

One particular door closed back in front of her face with so much force that she stumbled back, almost falling on her bottom. The face that jumped through the door also had a very loud voice that left the Gryffindor student speechless. The poltergeist only took one good look at Eliza before he scoffed and ran away.

"You're wandering really far from the places you know," Lupin's voice startled her even more than the ghost. "That's Peeves, the castle's poltergeist. He usually causes great discomfort to everyone." He explained.

Eliza frowned and turned to her professor, "He looked at me and left."

"Who knows what he's thinking about,"

"Or who, maybe?" Eliza added quickly.

Remus sighed and turned the same way she came from, urging her to come after him.

"No one knows who your parents are, Eliza. I want you to enjoy the time here as much as possible." It sounded like he genuinely meant every word he said but Eliza's mind was wandering other places and couldn't bother sinking them in.

"About the next full moon..." Eliza trailed, her green eyes peeking at the werewolf man.

"It's been taken care of. Professor Snape was kind enough to prepare something for me."

A snort was ready to come out of her mouth at the word 'kindly'. That wasn't an expression she would use with Snape's name in a sentence.

"What about you and Harry?" Remus changed the subject quickly as they were getting towards the Great Hall. "It looks like you finally acknowledge his existence."

"So you noticed?" She asked, the man nodding with a glint of amusement in his eyes, "When I first saw him, something about him made me feel nauseous. I avoided him because it felt like I should." Eliza explained though Remus didn't look like he wanted an explanation in the first place.

At dinner, Eliza sat between Neville and Harry, surprising everyone with her talkative personality. The boy glanced at each other curiously as to what exactly happened while they were gone.

"What have you two done while we were gone? Did you put a spell on each other or something?" Ronald asked, bewildered that shy and blunt Eliza was talking and laughing with the person she used to avoid so badly.

The culprits glanced at each other and laughed, shrugging Ron off and continuing with their curiosities of Hogsmeade; well, more like Harry's curiosities.

They were already done and Ronald was going on and on about the shops, where to go and where not to go like the Shrieking Shack, the most haunted building in Britain.

"I'm sure it's not haunted. Those are probably only rumors." Eliza mumbled, munching on a green acid pop that Hermione bought for her. It was delicious and it smelled like fresh mint; Eliza was indeed grateful and decided she will go next time and buy Hermione something for Christmas; maybe the guys too.

"Exactly! Rumors are based on real facts! Everyone talks about it so of course something is off about that place!" Ron continued, trying to push his opinion onto her. It wasn't working well and everyone else could notice how stubborn both Ron and Eliza were.

They were ascending the new set of moving stairs when they noticed a huge crowd in front of the Fat Lady portrait. There was only one problem: the Fat Lady was gone; her painting empty and bearing large scratches. The students were in a panic and so were the figures in neighboring paintings.

Eliza took a step back, watching as Dumbledore was making his way up the stairs to the painting. The whole Gryffindor house was talking loudly but once the headmaster appeared, the whole house became silent. Eliza raised an eyebrow when she noticed just how fast Dumbledore changed his demeanor when he saw the scratches.

Out of reflex or maybe woman feeling, she glanced over her shoulder at a person that was standing at the bottom of the stairs. Remus' face was blank; no expression at all and that alone was so new and strange for Eliza. Their eyes met and for a moment, she swore she saw the eyes of the wolf instead of those of a man.

"You'd be lucky to find her~" A voice nattered grabbing the attention of everyone.

Eliza's head snapped at the voice, recognizing it as the poltergeist that ignored her earlier that day. The rest of the conversation passed her incredibly fast with the noise around her but she did catch Peeve's most important announcement.

"A nasty temper's got, that Sirius Black."

Eliza's eyes widened with a joyful glint that only Dumbledore and Lupin feared. The daughter was bound to meet her father sooner or later and Dumbledore was worried what the two might talk about.