Thick Smoke

Being a Teenager

When she walked out of the classroom, she was done. Eliza was exhausted, and her legs were trembling. She had just killed a spider empty-handed. Merlin, she was going insane!

"Hey, Molley! Have you seen the new merchandise?" Malfoy chuckled smugly, pointing at something on his robe.

Eliza wasn't really interested in what he was talking about, but the badge was quite eye-catching, with the message POTTER STINKS displayed across it. She rolled her eyes and turned her back to him.

"Hey! I'm talking to you!"

He grabbed her shoulder and turned her towards him. Her hands immediately rose to protect herself. When she realized what she had done, she quickly put them behind her back.

"I just killed a spider," she mumbled, moving her head to the side.

"Aw! Little Molley killed a spidey? How awful~" he snickered, turning to his portly friend and making more comments.

The moment was not good, and Malfoy was seriously pissing her off.

"Shut up!" she snapped, glaring at him—or rather, at his mouth.

Suddenly, his lips pulled themselves together as if he'd eaten a magical lemon. Malfoy couldn't speak anymore.

Eliza's eyes widened as she looked around for witnesses—no one was there except his portly friend, whatever his name was.

"D-Draco! Your mouth!"

Malfoy and his friend panicked, but not nearly as much as Eliza. She was horrified because she had just done it again. She had used magic unconsciously without muttering a word.

"Sorry!"

She tried to do something, anything, but she was so stressed and drained that, while moving her hands in front of him and trying to break the spell, the portly boy's face started to resemble a pig.

Seeing that she was only making it worse, she gave one last apology before sprinting out of there.

*****

The next few days passed even faster than before. With how much work she had to do because of Professor Flitwick, Eliza spent most of her time in the library. She saw Harry and Hermione going around, while Krum was trying to hide in there, though it wasn't working at all. She was already halfway done, putting the books back on the shelves, when she felt someone stop next to her. Those sparkling eyes of Cedric Diggory were hard to miss.

"I'm sorry I said that to you yesterday. I know about the badges and how even some of my friends wore them. I'm sorry for that too," he stopped when he realized she didn't look particularly bothered.

She looked up and sighed. "You have nothing to apologize for. It's a competition, after all. Harry probably doesn't care about the badges either."

Silence fell after she spoke. They remained looking at each other, and Cedric's gaze was so intense that Eliza felt her cheeks heat up again.

Suddenly, he leaned closer to her, their arms touching, and Eliza suddenly became very aware of how close he was.

"It seems the first task is dragons. Harry's good sports and told me. I don't know if that's the truth, but—" he whispered.

"I know that," she mumbled, her eyes still focused on the books in front of her. "Not about the dragons, but about Harry," Eliza explained, and she swiftly moved a bit to create some distance. He was overwhelming.

With that said, Cedric nodded and walked away. Eliza sighed and leaned against the shelves, feeling out of breath. Cedric was long gone, but she could still feel her quickened heartbeat.