Eliza's most dreadful thought ended up being the truth. Remus packed a red dress and sent it by Furvus. He even bought her heels and sent her make up and for a moment she thought Remus and Sirius have planned it together.

Lavender and Parvati seemed delighted by the dress and they were genuinely excited for the ball.

"You're more feminine than you give yourself credit for," Parvati commented during lunch.

The girls were talking about their dates. Lavender was going with Seamus and Eliza couldn't help but laugh loudly.

"And here I was hoping you'd invite me." She whispered jokingly, making him blush.

Parvati was going with Harry and she genuinely looked happy about it. Ginny ended up with Neville and the whole group of girls and Seamus decided not to give their opinions on that.

From the table, Eliza noticed boys from Durmstrang and Beauxbatons looking at them and she was sure it was already too late to reconsider. Actually, Eliza had nothing to reconsider because she didn't say she was going with the blond. He just assumed that on his own, yes.

Those thoughts were getting worse and worse as the day became night and she found herself in front of a mirror, dressed in a sleeveless long red dress with a portion that was coming around her neck. She used magic to comb her hair in a bun and do her make up. The heels were uncomfortable and were making her even taller than she was. Overall, she looked like completely another person.

She took a deep breath and walked into the Common Room where Dean and Seamus were.

"Hey! Wow what a change!" Dean complimented his friend. "Your partner is lucky. Why didn't we ask her?" He asked Seamus but the boy didn't utter a word when Lavender just got down as well.

"I heard from Neville that Goldstein was planning on asking you. Did he?" Seamus asked, seemingly comparing his date with his friend.

"You probably heard wrong." The green eyed girl responded really fast before getting out of there.

She was uncomfortable. In her entire life Eliza had never felt more unsure of her body figure. Another thing that annoyed her was the way she was walking on heels. She was swaying from time to time and almost missed a step down the stairs. It was embarrassing.

Harry and Ron were in in Entrance Hall, now remarkably transformed into a place to grab attention or show off. Parvati and Padma were on each side, excited for the dance while Ron was looking more embarrassed than Eliza in his costume.

Harry was staring at Cedric and Cho and she suddenly realized she might have escaped but that meant Harry's date wasn't the one he truly wanted.

"You're being ignorant," Eliza whispered to Harry when she got downstairs, startling him.

"You look very different," Ron added, noticing his brunette friend in a dress. "I didn't know- you know- that you were so-"The girls turned to the ginger with questioning eyes, waiting for him to finish his idea. "Just different! Stop looking at me like that. Merlin, girls are scary!" He mumbled feeling like his destruction was near.

"Stop stumbling on your heels," Parvati whispered, leaning towards Eliza to help her stay straight.

The green eyed girl only scoffed but used her dorm mate to actually gain some balance.

At the sight of Blaise Zabini and his date, Eliza froze and remembered just who was her partner. She glanced at her friends and smiled before she gave some random lie that she forgot something and ran the opposite way of the hall.

Eliza just walked around the corner when she noticed Hermione walking towards the Great Hall, looking fabulous. With one quick self encouragement, she turned towards the stairs with the intention of sneaking back into the dormitory. That didn't go very well because she met her perpetuator who was coming from the dungeons.

He had another girl hanging on his hand and for a moment, she hoped Malfoy was truly messing with her. Unfortunately, his eyes caught hers and widened for a second. The blond left the girl and his bodyguards and came straight to her, his grin widening as he was getting closer.

"We have an arrangement, remember Molley?"

She grumbled something that he couldn't quite understand. In the end she had no choice but to accompany her date...Malfoy...Slytherin...Most annoying git of them all who hated Gryffindors, especially Harry. Life was cruel...

Walking inside the hall with Malfoy grabbed the attention of friends from both sides: Ron was quite offended by it and Parvati understood why Eliza was so secretive about her partner. Most Gryffindors seemed to feel the awkwardness between their colleague and Malfoy. Seamus and Dean were ready to interfere if she'd only wince or blink too many times.

On the other side, Slytherins were standing still. The girls were glaring at Eliza with all the power in the world but wouldn't dare come up to her or stay remotely close to the Gryffindor.

The first to dance were the contestants of the Triwizard Tournament, with their respective partners. At the sight of Viktor Krum and Hermione, the girls started to whisper in awe.

"She looks beautiful," Eliza mumbled, happy for her friend.

"I wouldn't use that word. She looks pompous." Malfoy responded, though she really didn't care what his opinion was.

"How do I look, then?" She asked turning to him, a mischievous glint swirling in her eyes. "Well?"

He leaned closer and looked straight into her eyes, "Not as pompous as I would have liked."

Eliza scoffed and turned her attention towards the crowd and the dancing contestants. Harry was completely dazed for the whole time and Eliza couldn't help but feel a bit of empathy for Parvati, who was doing her best.

It was a few minutes later when Malfoy wrapped his arm around her back and pushed her softly towards the dancing floor. Surprisingly, she was feeling confident and her Slytherin blood kicked in. The green eyed witch knew how to dance and Malfoy was swaying her around easily, making them look peaceful with each other (which wasn't the case at all).

"Why did you invite me to the ball, Malfoy?" She started, having no choice but to look each other in the eye.

"I thought I made myself clear when I said I was going to use you as a subject of research." He responded, swirling her twice before placing his hand on her back again.

"Why are you so interested? I told you already, your father has the answers." She whispered.

He pulled her closer to his chest, making her suddenly straighten her back more and wrap both her arms around his neck.

From afar, it looked like they were in a tight position, both figuratively and literally. She was only a lab rat, something uncommon or very rare for Malfoy and he wanted to desiccate it to the core and find out why it was what it was. On the other hand, Draco was Lucius' son and held answers that he may or may not be aware of yet.

They were staring at each other, each with their own curiosities and in that moment, they knew they could help each other out in some twisted way.

It was later on when the music became upbeat and modern that Blaise and his partner came to Malfoy and Eliza.

"Somehow, I still can't understand how you two came to be." Blaise chuckled.

Eliza rolled her eyes and searched for a way out, soon if possible. She did find it when she saw Harry and Ron standing on chairs like they were dozing off.

The brunette sneaked away and startled Harry when she sat next to him.

"What are you doing with Malfoy?" Ron asked before anything else. "You are literally fraternizing with the enemy! He's more of an enemy than Krum!" He continued, narrowing his eyes at her.

Eliza turned towards Harry confused. Harry shrugged and leaned back looking like he would like to be anywhere but there.

"It's complicated with Malfoy but I can tell you it's all about interest." She responded, freezing when she realized it didn't sound well at all.

"Interest, huh?" Ron couldn't believe it truthfully, "So you are interested in Malfoy," He stated, his expression changing from mad to amused and ending with doubtful. "You wouldn't be the first. He plays with girls like you."

Harry's eyes widened and glanced from one friend to the other, waiting for Eliza's blunt attitude to appear and make the situation worse, like always.

"What kind of a girl am I, Ronald?"

She was still calm from what Harry could hear but he was waiting for that attitude of hers anyway.

"Last time I checked, I didn't scream like a girl when I got bitten in Herbology and didn't moan about it for a week. Also, I am not the one dressed in antique clothes and I definitely don't judge you after the girls you like. You are jealous and easy to manipulate if the bait is something precious to you. I am not any girl you meet on the halls and I definitely don't have any kind of romantic involvement with Malfoy. Are you happy now?" She asked sarcastically but Ron was speechless.

Harry chuckled in the back, patting his best friend bemusedly.

"You asked for it, mate." He mumbled once Eliza left.

She was intending to leave the event and go into her dorm but Malfoy found her midway and dragged her back, for refreshments. Once he opened his mouth, she was sure he was going to make the night worse.

"I found something interesting these days," He started, "Something about a certain Ophelia Molley and Sirius Black." He whispered.

"What are you talking about?" She hissed, leaning closer to him.

His eyebrow rose smugly before he grabbed two cups of punch, giving her one and keeping one for himself, making it look colloquial.

"Ophelia Molley had a daughter resulted from her long-term relationship with Sirius Black," He continued, her eyes widening and her temper getting the best of her senses, "Your parents betrayed their friends, haven't they? Such a pity...your parents are traitors."

He was taunting her with a taboo subject and he was labeling her parents just like Lucius labeled her mother.

"Did you know that, Black?" The way he said her name only amplified the anger within and for a fraction of second, she could see Lucius Malfoy.

"He will get you killed sooner or later." Lucius added calmly, looking disappointed.

That sudden memory flashed before her eyes. She witnessed it before but didn't know when and why she was remembering it now. Those Malfoys have always meddled with Blacks' love lives.

She dazed off and the blond noticed it right away by the way her face suddenly became blank and her eyes distanced themselves, as if she was looking through him not at him. Suddenly, she blinked quickly and shoved him off before running out of the Great Hall. It was strange how he found out that information about Ophelia and Sirius right before Christmas.

Eliza ran and hid in the closest place: the first floor girl's bathroom. She leaned against the sink and looked at her appearance in the mirror, feeling like she wanted to metamorphose into a rat and run out of there. The brunette could still hear her mother's words echoing in her head and seeing her face in the mirror made her feel even worse.

"Do I know you?"

Eliza froze when she heard the voice of a girl right behind her. She turned slowly, her hands grasping the edge of the sink just in case.

"I have seen you before! You were playing around with that Slytherin," The girl continued.

Before anything else, whoever she was, she was dead because her feet weren't touching the ground and her whole appearance was blurry. She was a ghost.

"Which Slytherin?" Eliza asked once she registered what the ghost said.

"Oh, you know~ I heard he became a Death Eater once he graduated," She trailed, swirling in the air, "But he didn't seem like one. He was handsome and really nice to me," She stopped and noticed Eliza's confused expression, "You know, Regulus Black,"

Eliza's eyes widened and took two steps towards the ghost.

"Regulus, he didn't want to be a Death Eater. He was forced into it by his family, unlike Malfoy and Snape."

The ghost shrugged before flying closer to Eliza, "They were his followers; gave everything up for him," Suddenly, her eyes widened and leaned really close to Eliza's face, staring at her eyes, "I heard him talk about you. He had so many plans and you were part of them, part of who he was." The ghost continued.

"Malfoy?" Eliza mumbled, not moving an inch from that spot. The ghost shook her head and pouted, making her even more curious, "Who then?"

"Tom." The ghost responded before chuckling and jumping back to the windowsill.