Thick Smoke

Alone

The nightmare shook her up more than she expected. She was staring at her untouched food, she was making a lot of mistakes in class and she almost lost another 30 points in Potions if it wasn't for Blaise.

"Are you alright? You're making a lot of mistakes lately and I can't save your ass for longer." Zabini muttered after class.

"Then don't. I'm sure Malfoy waits for a chance to make fun of me." She snarled as she grabbed her bag and walked towards the door.

"He's surprisingly silent when the girls talk about you." He informed, making her roll her eyes.

"Wow. I didn't even appear in the newspaper yet and spend precious time gossiping about me." She retorted sarcastically.

Blaise chuckled, "Not yet."

She wasn't worrying about that with how anonymous was her family name. Still, why was she having that nightmare? It couldn't be a memory because Ophelia was in hiding back then so who was the traitor? Who was spying on them?

"It's frustrating!" She moaned, stomping her feet on the ground.

"Are you alright?"

Eliza could recognize that voice anywhere.

"Cedric. I'm surprised you can see anything except your girlfriend." She started bitterly.

Eliza wasn't really angry but she was stressed and her nights were spent lately with Furvus, scratching him while waiting for the hours to pass.

"I can see you well in the halls. You're always hurrying somewhere. I also noticed the black kitten lurking around you." He said, sounding very pleased with himself.

The brunette calmed down and looked up into his sparky eyes, "Sorry. It's just really hard to sleep these days and Potions..."

That seemed to make sense. Cedric walked with Eliza until they got in front of the Great Hall. People were staring at a howler that was screaming stuff at Hermione.

"Well, see you around." Cedric muttered before going to his table.

Eliza went and sat down next to the bushy haired girl. The howler stopped by now and silence fell between them.

"So you're still getting hate-mail?" Eliza started like it was nothing.

Hermione sighed but Eliza noticed her hands twitching under the table, "That's not important. Last night, Krum was stunned by Barty Crouch and then he disappeared." The bushy haired girl whispered.

Eliza froze. She could still hear Malfoy's voice saying that name. Then, she remember Crouch's son had been locked in Azkaban for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. But what if he wasn't? What if he was supposed to be there?

For the rest of the day, she couldn't concentrate where she was going moreover what was being discussed around her. They had Divination later on and Eliza arrived there earlier than expected, by coincidence.

"Ah, my dear Eliza. Come in, come in. You're here quite early, had something happened?" Professor Trelawney asked as she tilted her head to the side and leaned closer, watching Eliza through her big round spectacles.

For a second, brief minuscule second, Eliza genuinely considered telling Trelawney about her dream but decided not to.

"Nothing happened, professor." She responded, taking a seat as far as possible from the professor.

The others came in a few minutes later and Seamus sat next to her while Neville and Dean sat in front of them. From their bored expressions, they were more than happy to get it over with and do something else. The room was warm and the whole atmosphere felt done for hypnosis. Professor Trelawney lifted from under her chair a miniature solar system, contained with a glass dome. It looked entrancing, especially when she was pointing out stuff between the planets.