"Hey, Liz! You forgot this!" Fred Weasley-Eliza hoped she was right and that was Fred not George- ran after her holding tightly onto what looked like a black ball.

"Huh?"

Eliza stopped in her tracks and waited for the ginger to catch up to her. Once Fred was right in front of her, the black ball became familiar.

"F- it's a frisbee! Right..." She spoke, her voice rising an octave.Fred obviously saw through her lie. "Where did you find him?" Eliza asked in her normal voice.

"In the Entrance Hall. I think he was trying to find the kitchen."

Hearing the magic word, the black ball opened up, showing his true identity. His bright green eyes stared up at the ginger innocently, looking like he wasn't even real.

"Furvus. Come here," Eliza ordered her kitten but Furvus didn't move an inch. Instead, he purred and jumped on Fred, digging his little claws into his clothes.

"I think he likes me!" The ginger exclaimed happily.

The kitten glanced over his shoulder at his master and purred again. It looked, in Eliza's eyes, as if Furvus was asking her who Fred was.

"I have to go to class. You can hang around Fred for now but be nice. Be nice, Furvus." She repeated, her tone getting a bit colder.

Furvus purred again and turned back to Fred happily.

"How the heck did he get here again?" She mumbled on her way to Divination.

Furvus proved to be a troublemaker so naturally, he liked following the Weasley twins around. They quite liked him too and were using him as a pawn in their games. The one who was taking all the blame though was Eliza because Furvus was her cat.

She got late to Transfiguration because Furvus found the entry into the kitchen and unlike anything she had seen, there was a house elf that found the black cat very entertaining.

"Who the heck is that elf anyway? He's taking great care of that little troublemaker..." She mumbled, her attention far from the subject in class.

Only when professor McGonagall threw a very sharp look, Eliza finally shut up and looked at her teacher.

"Now, before you leave I have an announcement to make. The Yule Ball has been a tradition of the Triwizard Tournament since its inception. On Christmas night, we and our guests gather in the Great Hall for a night of well-mannered frivolity. As representatives of the host school I expect each and every one of you to put your best foot forward. And I mean this literally, because the Yule Ball is, first and foremost a dance."

Eliza was somewhere in the back, hoping she won't have to dance and show everyone that she was actually good at it. She could still remember Remus teaching her how to dance because you never know what may happen in the future and I won't be there, nudging you towards a boy. Now, that she was in that position, she was definitely questioning Remus' foreseeing abilities and everything he has done, Furvus and Willy included.

Now that it struck her, her eyes widened and quickly turned to McGonagall. Remus probably heard about the Yule Ball and was going to send her a dress. Oh no. He probably sneaked one inside her trunk when she wasn't looking or maybe that was why Furvus appeared at school...

"I'm not going." Eliza firmly stated when they got back in their dormitory.

Hermione raised an eyebrow and crossed her arms in front of her chest, seemingly ready to lecture her.

"I-I'm serious! I am not going to that ball wearing a dress- Hermione!" She whined at the end, feeling like everyone was against her.

"It's going to be fantastic! We have to find a partner and I already have someone in mind," Parvati trailed, her eyes looking into distance thinking about that certain someone.

"What about you Hermione? Someone in mind?" Eliza turned around, cornering the girl who nagged her about that subject a few minutes ago.

"The-There's still a lot to do..."

Parvati and Eliza glanced at each other knowingly.

"Like what? Homework?" Eliza asked, as curious as the Indian girl. "Come on! Loosen up and look carefully around yourself. It's time you find a partner."

"That is none of your concerns!" She snapped.

"It can be." Eliza chuckled.

The two girls laughed before Hermione hit Eliza in the side of the head with her pillow. That night, the girls had a small pillow fight, giving out the bad energy and the stress gathered over the weeks.

It was next day when Eliza hurried to her classes struggling with a book and three parchments for Potions, her favorite subject with the least agreeable professor.

It was strange because Snape ordered her to write essays about defensive and aggressive spells that may or may not be dangerous for a student.That was how she got herself so busy with school work for the last two days that she actually ignored or ran away from most boys who invited her at the Yule Ball.

"Um,"

She barged in the classroom, most students already working at their potions in groups of three. Blaise was waiting at their table with Malfoy. She licked her lips and moved one string of hair behind her ear before walking to him.

"Right in time, Molley. I was wondering if you haven't gotten any interruptions on the way,"

He smirked, his eyes glistening with a certain evil glint.

It wasn't her fault, it was Snape's for pressuring her with so much work right before Christmas. She was excited to go to Hogsmeade to look for presents but he already informed her of what she was going to do at that time; that was the main reason she vented her anger on collateral victims

For the whole hour, Snape was glowering at her table, shifting his attention from time to time to snarl at Harry and Ron or Neville. Blaise was working without a word spoken but she could see it in the way he would glance every so often at her that he was uncomfortable with the whole set up. Malfoy was probably in the best mood. He has been waiting for that chance for a while.

"I have done research on you, Molley." He whispered when Blaise turned his back to look for ingredients.

"Did your father tell you that?" She asked, her eyes set on cutting the ingredients she had into tiny pieces before pushing them into the cauldron, "Your father has a certain presumption to lie," The brunette continued, completely drawn to her potion making.

"No. I have done the research on my own. Granted to my name and blood, I found out quite a lot about this Molley family of yours," He continued smugly.

Eliza was getting curious and no matter how much she was trying to hide it, she couldn't. She eventually gave in and gave Malfoy her full attention. The blond's smirk vanished and his eyebrows furrowed together, concentrating on the information he had.

"There was one muggle family in Birmingham called Molley but they never had children. They adopted a certain Ophelia from the orphanage, a kid with a rebellious attitude," He started, making her raise an eyebrow and lean against the table.

She didn't stop him mainly because that was something Remus never bothered to tell her before.

"It doesn't matter anyway. They died during the war. Your mother betrayed everyone by running away when her friends needed her the most." He leaned in and whispered, taunting her with what stung the most.

It did hurt a bit but Eliza didn't know absolutely anything about her mother and her past. She couldn't part truth from false.

"It doesn't seem like you found anything relevant," She responded after all.

Malfoy might have been bluffing for all she knew.

"My mother has nothing to do with me anyway. She's long dead and all I have left from her is a nightmare." She continued.

Malfoy leaned back and crossed his arms in front of his chest, staring at her confused yet intrigued. He was curious what was her real family and why he found Ophelia Molley's certificate labeled as classified at the Ministry of Magic. For some reason, he didn't feel like it would be safe or beneficial for anyone if his father would find out about Eliza.

That night, the brunette dreamed something brighter than usually yet still with a big impact over her mental state.

It was a sunny day, that one, which was the first after a long series of gloomy days. A girl about 4 years old with short brown hair and bright green eyes was running in the garden. She was playing with her mother. Ophelia Molley was a woman whose pale green eyes attracted attention right away especially since they were complimented by her long black hair.

They were both smiling happily, playing a game of chase. Everything was perfect. Well, as perfect as it could be. The woman caught her daughter and tickled her, making the little girl laugh loudly.

As the mother was playfully glaring at her daughter, a tree fell down right in front of her house. She stopped playing and took in the change of environment. Dark clouds were slowly moving over the ground, the wind pushing them particularly towards the house.
She smiled kindly at the child and grabbed her hand. "Honey, let's go inside."

They entered the house in a hurry and Ophelia led her daughter upstairs, inside her room. Even for a 4 years old child, she knew something bad was going on. Her mother's green eyes darkened and fear spread through her entire being. The house seemed to have gotten colder and the bed where the little girl would crawl to sleep with her mother seemed to have lost all comfort.

Once the kid got inside the room, the woman closed the door and locked it. There was only one problem: she didn't enter.

"Liz trust mommy, alright?"

"Trust mommy."

"Do you trust me, Eliza?"

Her green eyes opened suddenly only to find herself in the dormitory. The library rat glanced at her friend worriedly while making her bed, her curiosity getting the best of her.

"Are you alright? You were mumbling in your sleep," Hermione stated, "You were talking about trust." Hermione added when she noticed Eliza's confused expression.

"It was my mom. She told me to trust her that night," Eliza recognized in the end, seeing no harm in telling Hermione about Ophelia. "She knew what was about to happen but she didn't run. She faced him all alone for my and Sirius' safety. All alone," The brunette continued sounding like she was entering a daze.

Hermione smiled and hugged her friend. Eliza was sincerely touched by her gesture but at the same time, she couldn't shrug off the feeling that she had been lied to. She could feel disappointment tugging on her heart and it was coming from those four words: Do you trust me?

As the day passed by, Eliza found herself in an uncomfortable and peculiar moment: she met Cedric in the halls towards Divination and he was in surprisingly good spirits.

"Um- hello," She started awkwardly, grasping the books in her hands nervously.

Cedric raised an eyebrow and stared at her, "So, you heard about the Yule Ball?"

Eliza panicked. She could feel her hands beginning to sweat a lot and her heart was pounding in her chest. The brunette didn't even consider Cedric as a partner to the ball because he was her friend and now that he started that subject, she scared.

"I-I-"

Her nervous behavior could be taken two different ways and from Cedric's expression, he wasn't thinking about the one she would have liked.

"Professor Sprout told us that we've got to bring partners. She was being very firm about it, especially to me. It seems champions have to begin the dance..." He continued, getting a bit closer.

Her green eyes widened and she surely hoped no one, but NO ONE, was around to witness that.

"Good for you. I hope you find yourself a good dancer then. Hehe." Eliza's answer didn't seem to faze Cedric. "So, have you found someone yet?"

"Yes." His response only made her feel sick in the stomach. "Cho Chang from Ravenclaw. She agreed to come with me."

Once Eliza registered every word he said, she gave a big sigh. She didn't even notice that she stopped breathing when he mention the ball. His serious face broke into a grin.

"Thank God," She muttered, feeling like a lot of pressure just vanished off her chest.

Cedric chuckled, "You don't have to look so relieved, Eliza. I was intending on asking you at first but then I thought you'd most probably go with Harry."

He had the expression of one who just messed around with his mate, which wasn't necessarily bad if he wouldn't had beamed with amusement and satisfaction.

"Yes, Harry, no, no. I'm not going with Harry, God no."

For a moment he genuinely looked like reconsidering his decision so Eliza quickly changed the subject.

"It will be magical. Cho is a great Quidditch player from what I heard and she is pretty and smart and everything! Good catch, if you ask me." Eliza added before looking at her invisible watch, "Oh look how late it is! I'll be late for seeing the future! Good bye!" she said quickly before sprinting out of there.

She ran around the corner and collided into a boy that she had never met before, a Ravenclaw. Oh, the irony! she thought.

He rubbed his chest before checking out if she was alright; only, she took a few steps back and gathered her books, her eyes never looking at him.

"You're a Gryffindor, aren't you? Friends with Neville," He started in a very low voice for a boy his age.

Her green eyes rose to him and she suddenly felt like running away again. He was a friend of Neville that she had heard about before, Anthony Goldstein, a blond with brains and courage.

"Right," She said, already thinking how to vanish into thin air and appear in class.

"I was wondering if you'd like to-"He got interrupted but not by who Eliza was waiting for.

"Molley, let's go talk about our arrangement!"

She heard the familiar voice of another blond, more insufferable and witty than the one she was facing.

Anthony raised an eyebrow, curious why was Malfoy talking to a Gryffindor, whom he very openly declared some kind of war against. Malfoy walked closer and wrapped a hand around her, sneering at the Ravenclaw.

"You're still here, Goldstein?" The Slytherin snarled, making the blond walk away, still a bit confused of what he just saw. Afterwards, Malfoy turned expectantly to his victim. "Well?"

She blinked twice before she pushed him back, her eyes scanning him warily, "Well what?"

"You should thank me for saving you right now. Besides, we have an arrangement to discuss," He responded in a matter of fact tone.

"What arrangement? Have you researched my family background again and have something irrelevant to tell me?" She answered him in a smart ass know-it-all tone.

"No. Your family doesn't seem to have anything interesting so I'm going to research what I have at hand: you." He stated, emphasizing the last word with a certain tone that he knew would tick her off. "That is why I will save you the embarrassment of not going to the ball with just anyone."

He looked so proud and assured of what he was doing that it startled her and she was genuinely curious what was going on through his head. He was either following a well planned scheme or he was simply going with whatever was coming out his mouth.

"Are you seriously inviting me to the Yule Ball?" She questioned his motives, seriously, "What if I don't want to go at all? I have far more significant things to do than go to some stiff ceremony where I have to dance." She began babbling but Malfoy was already walking towards his class.

"Dress nicely, Molley! Don't embarrass me!" He screamed over his shoulder, making her cheeks flush in anger.

"Stupid brat." She mumbled before turning on her heels and going to what was left of the Divination class.