Hogsmeade

The break passed and Remus Lupin was more annoyed and worried than ever. The reason was his goddaughter whose father escaped Azkaban and was hiding from prison guards called Dementors. However tat didn't seem like an issue to have father-daughter bonding time. Eliza was going out at night, Merlin knows where, and come back in time for breakfast. Afterwards, she would lock herself in her room and practice spells all day long.


When it was time to go back to Hogwarts, she grabbed Furvus and waited for her godfather to apparate with him instead of using the train. She wasn't sure why Remus had to be there so fast but she was happy that she wasn't going to listen to people ramble on and on about Sirius anymore.


"Are you going to tell me where you went every night or should I use the Truth Serum?"


He wasn't going to do that but he wanted her to trust him enough and tell him the truth on her own.


Eliza's green eyes scanned Remus' face, noticing every trace of stress he gained over the years.


"You should look for a girlfriend," She mumbled, his eyes widening at her statement.


"W-what?!" He screamed, perplexing the first years that were just coming in. He coughed and pushed her to the side. "Who gave you this idea?"


Eliza smiled innocently and blinked just like Furvus when he messed up the kitchen and played with the thrash. If he didn't know who he raised for the past years, he would have sworn he was in front of Ophelia when she first admitted she liked Sirius.


"Who have you met for the past week, Eliza?" He asked again even if he knew already.


"Wouldn't you like to know," She chuckled already giving Remus the answer with that mischievous glint in her eyes.


Outside was still snowing when the next break to Hogsmeade came around. Unlike the last time, Eliza asked Remus to sign her pass and go buy presents for Christmas. Unfortunately, that left Harry alone.


On the other side, Seamus and Dean where more than happy when she walked down the stairs that morning, dressed for going out in the cold. Since they knew better where to visit and what to buy, they led her to their favorite places.


Now, truthfully, Eliza had never been to Hogsmeade before, only got the chance to hear about it from Remus' stories at Hogwarts and the pictures of her mother and her friends in local shops. That was probably the sole reason why she let herself dragged by the boys inside Honeydukes even if she wasn't a big fan of sweets.


"You should try that! Or this! Merlin, this is heaven!" Seamus exclaimed, a boyish grin appearing on his face.


Eliza swore she saw his eyes sparkle at the sight of chocolate cauldrons and pushed him that way.


While she was going around, wandering the sweet store, she noticed the clerk looking at her very closely. At first, she thought he was looking at someone behind her so she glanced over her shoulder but he was definitely staring at her.


Feeling uncomfortable, she paid for a bag of liquorice wands and left the shop, sneaking out right past Neville. The coldness hit her in the face hard, making her pull her red muffler closer to her face. She shuddered and walked by herself, looking for presents.


In her whole life, she had never seen herself in the posture of having to spend money for someone else except Remus so it was very complicated. Eliza had no idea what her friends liked because she never paid attention. Besides, Christmas passed and she didn't give anything to anyone.


Actually, she got some Christmas cards from Gryffindors and everything but really, her best gift was spending time with Sirius.


She went around in circles and ended up in Tomes and Scrolls. The bell rung in that familiar high pitched sound, alarming whoever was inside that a new customer crossed their threshold. She was quite short and sneaked inside like she was doing something bad instead of looking for a present. The shelves were old and dusty but the old books were only making her feel like she was back home searching for something interesting to read.


For the whole hour she spent inside, she eyed a few books for herself before taking Fantastic Creatures of the Wizarding world for Hermione. She also found something very cute; a novel about a pair of lovers who were too proud to admit their feelings to each other. Eliza bought that for Ronald, chuckling to herself the whole way to the clerk. No one was there so she left the money on the desk and left quickly.


It was quite amazing how happy and content she was feeling by just buying two presents. By the end of the day, she stopped in several stores like Spintwitches Sporting Needs; Zonko's and back to Honeydukes where she bought an entire cauldron of sweets for Seamus and Neville.


In those moments, with all the stuff she bought, she was really happy that her purse was modified to be bigger on the inside; unfortunately, that wasn't making it lighter.


Next, Eliza made her way towards the Three Broomsticks Inn, ready for a break and a warm beverage to keep her body temperature high. She was ready to open the door when someone jolted out of there, pushing her to the side in the process.


By the time the day was over, Eliza decided to pay a visit to the Shrieking Shack, curious what was so scary at it that brought the title of the most haunted building in Britain. She wasn't even there yet when she noticed the form of a man sneaking out of the Shack in the distance. It was pretty obvious he was hiding because at some point, he disappeared in thin air; like he was apparating somewhere else.


"So strange," She mumbled, continuing her walk to the front of the building.


Now, seeing it up close, it did look haunted but so did the Newsham Hospital and it was proven that what was abandoned wasn't necessarily haunted as well.


Eliza was on the way back to the stores when she heard the echo of an angry male. She couldn't make up the sentence but she could understand the last world shouted; she was sure it was 'friend' and that word sent a chill down her spine.


Back at the castle, the lessons took their normal course yet students seemed more preppy than before.


"So, how did professor Snape react when the first face he saw after the break was yours?" Neville asked, already imagining it in his head.


"He went bonkers. I thought he was going to curse me out of that room but thankfully, he didn't."


That was exactly what happened. She wanted to get rid of that annoying essay as soon as possible and went in the dungeons as soon as she entered Hogwarts. The professor wasn't there but she noticed something disturbing waiting on the window sill. It was Willy and he had a letter in his mouth, probably for Snape. She was speechless and grabbed the letter without caring that she could get bitten by Willy; her owl. Unfortunately, Snape came at the most inopportune moment and saw her scan his letter, immediately getting angry before shoving her out of his classroom.


Of course, Eliza wasn't going to tell her friends why exactly he hated her even more now.


Later that week, Remus called Eliza in the Astronomy Tower, asking her to come empty handed but ready for a duel. That was quite a contradiction since she needed her wand for a duel yet he told her discreetly in class that she shouldn't bring it.


"These days, I have been teaching Harry the Patronus Charm," He informed her as soon as they met.


"Good for him. Dementors seem to have taken a liking to his memories," She commented, remembering the time he got attacked during the Quidditch match.


Remus raised an eyebrow and chuckled slightly, seeing just how unforeseeable those two kids were, even to each other. Eliza was getting friendlier, softer when hearing of her father yet Harry would go crazy if he knew just who his new friend was.


"What about you? You have seen a lot more than Harry when your mother died. Those memories will always haunt you, Liz." He spoke softly, knowing what a sensitive subject that was.


Surprisingly, Eliza seemed to have loosened up by a lot lately and she didn't act like she used to. She wasn't getting angry anymore and she was getting good at controlling her magic.


"Those memories are the reason that's keeping me study so hard. I don't want to meet him but if the chance will rise, I won't hide like I did back then. I'm going to fight." She stated firmly.


Remus smiled before wrapping an arm around her.


"What about your Patronus?" He asked, letting her go when she got up and pointed at nothing in particular. She didn't have a wand so she snatched his out of his pocket.


"Expecto Patronum!" She screamed loudly pointing the wand at the wall. Blue light flowed out of the tip, trailing a gentle form of an animal.


Remus sighed and rubbed the back of his neck when he saw what the Patronus was. It was troublesome because every happy memory she had was with Remus and her Patronus was a werewolf.


She chuckled when the werewolf moved from one place to another, like it was playing around with them. Once the werewolf form jumped next to Remus, he licked his face.


"It's not funny." Remus mumbled, his eyes closing when the werewolf licked his side of the face again. "It's not funny, Eliza." He repeated, opening his eyes with a mischievous glint swirling inside.


"Alright, fine." The Patronus vanished once she threw the wand at its rightful owner. "I bet I can do it without a wand, too." She chuckled, crossing her arms in front of her chest smugly.


"I'm sure you can but not today. Today, I want you to disarm me without a wand." He stated looking at her expectantly.


Eliza blinked for a few seconds before tilting her head to the side cutely, "Why?"


"We don't know what may happen in the future. Besides, I noticed the way you taunt Slytherins," Just like your father, Remus would have continued.


"And?" She asked swaying from side to side, concentrating on the wand in his hand.


"Try not to do it often. I know no matter what I will say, you won't even bother listening to-" Just like your parents, Remus would have added again.


Her green eyes suddenly rose to his and smirked while her eyes narrowed slightly making her look like a cat.


"Expelliarmus!" With a swift sway of her hand, she hoped the wand in his hand will fly away but nothing happened. Instead, something else fell off a shelf.


"Oh," She mumbled, glancing between her godfather, the original target, and the direction of her spell. "That didn't work well," She added, the smirk falling off her face quickly.


"That's because you were joking instead of concentrating on your target. Do it again, but focus only on what I'm holding." He started, his voice getting louder and firmer, just like a strict professor.


Eliza rubbed her forehead, already foreseeing the rest of the evening. She knew how stubborn Remus was and she knew he won't let her leave the tower until she was going to disarm him with her eyes closed.


Yes, that was the real Remus Lupin; hardworking to the core.

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