Curiousity Killed the Cat

The things I do for Sirius amazes me sometimes. Professor Dumbledore told me that Sirius was more worried about Harry than he was before. He had already asked me to watch him but this was a bit out of my comfort zone.

But here I was, seeking up to the Fat Lady, aka the portrait who was in front of the Gryffindor common room with Professor Dumbledore at midnight. He spoke to the Fat Lady, telling her that I was going to be in there every single night to watch Harry. The Fat Lady was a bit surprised but in the end, she agreed to give me the passwords.

“Remember Miss Black, no one must know you are there. Go in at midnight and be out by dawn. I have spoken to your teachers and warned them that you might be skipping classes due to lack of sleep. You are doing a great favor to all of us,” Professor Dumbledore said before walking out. I sighed and walked into the passage. It was quiet, but I didn’t take my chances. I transformed into a cat, which was thankfully black even though I had blond hair, before trotting upstairs to the boys dormitory. I could hear the snoring as I walked between the beds, searching for Harry.

I heard someone talking in their sleep and I glanced up at the bed closest to the window. I hopped onto the window sill and glanced down at the sleeping boy, who was having a nightmare. Just as I thought.

I watched him rolled back and forth, muttering words under his breath, twitching as he felt a pain though his scar. I felt a wave of sympathy go though me as I watched him go though his nightmare. I laid down on the window sill and watched him sleep for a while. I soon felt my eyes begin to droop as I slowly go more tired. I closed my eyes and as soon as I did, I saw something.

It was Harry. He was in a graveyard, or something like that, with a handsome boy, who I recognized as Cedric, the one who was going to the Yule Ball with Cho. They looked confused, very confused actually. Harry pulled out his wand, while Cedric stood there, more confuse than Harry it seemed. A sound came from the distance, causing both Harry and Cedric to stop breathing. A short man, one that I remembered to be the rat, the one Sirius wanted to kill, appeared from the darkness. He raised his wand and yelled a curse, but I didn’t hear it.

I opened my eyes and looked at Harry, who was still alive and breathing, before relaxing a bit. I looked out the window to see that it was indeed dawn. I hopped off the window sill and ran out the dormitory. I transformed back into a person and ran off to the Ravenclaw house. I answered the question to get it and ran into my bed, before anyone noticed I was gone. In all honesty, I wasn’t very tired. I usually didn’t get a lot of sleep, being in Azkaban for two years. I’d have to tell Professor Dumbledore what I saw, but I wasn’t going to wake him right now. I’d have to wait until morning.

Three weeks later…

For three weeks, I’ve been watching Harry Potter sleep and replaying the same thing over and over again: that scene in the graveyard. I tried to figure out what it meant, when it would happen, and why but I hadn’t gotten anywhere. Professor Dumbledore said that he’d deal with it but it didn’t stop it from replaying in my mind, every single night.

The Yule Ball was in less than a week, four days to be exact, and I still didn’t have a date or a dress, not that I minded. I was perfectly fine with missing out on this, but it seemed that others had different views on it.

“Miss Black, I assume you have a partner for the Yule Ball?” Professor Flitwick asked once class had ended. I froze and turned around slowly; what had I done to deserve this? I was best in the class!

“Actually I do not, Professor,” I said, brushing a strand of hair from my face.

He frowned. “Miss Black, it is a great tradition the Yule Ball. Ravenclaw students have always gone.”

I sighed. “Well, it seems as if all the males in my year already have a partner,” I started to say but with a look at my Head of House’s face made me sigh. “But I will do my best to find one.”

“That’ll do, Miss Black,” he said, dismissing me to my new quest: to find a partner for the Yule Ball.

I hurried out of the class room and made my way back to the Ravenclaw house for my free time. I had Transfiguration homework that I needed to have finished in two days and seeing as I know had to find a partner, it would be better if I did it now. I was about halfway there when I ran into someone, sending both of us tumbling to the ground.

“Oh, sorry!” a rushed voice, I’m assuming the person I ran into, said. I pushed myself up off the ground, ignoring the hand that was held out for me, and was going to grab my fallen books but someone beat me to it.

“Sorry about that, I didn’t mean to run into you,” Harry said, handing me back my books. I have to admit, he looks better wake than he does asleep.

“Good, I would have hurt you if you did mean to,” I said, in a somewhat joking voice. Although, I would hurt someone if they did that.

Harry grinned. “You’re Elyse, right?”

“Yes, Elyse Black,” I said, pushing my messed up hair away from my face.

“You’re in Ravenclaw, right?” he asked, sounding half-sure of himself.

“‘Wits beyond measure is world’s greatest treasure’” I quoted, half smiling myself. We stood there for a moment, I was waiting for him to say something but he seemed to be out of words. “Well, I better get going.”

I began to continue the way I was going but Harry grabbed my hand before I could get out of his reach.

“Wait! Uh, I actually wanted to ask you something,” he said, somewhat nervously. He still had my hand in his grasp, but I didn’t bring it up. I raised my eyebrow, my gesture for him to continue.

“Willyougototheballwithme?” Harry shot off at rapid speed. I didn’t get any of that but I assumed he meant it as a question.

“What?” I asked, my amber eyes wide with confusion.

“Uh,” he said, nervously, “I asked if you would, you know, go to the, uh, ball. With me.”

I could have laughed at his nervousness and how he stumbled the words out. I knew it might sound mean but Harry Potter, ‘The Boy Who Lived’, is having trouble asking a girl to the Ball?

“Why are you asking me?” I said, wanting to mess with him. “Is it because you find me attractive or because you, like me, have yet to find a date to the Ball so I’m your last resort?”

Harry blinked and shifted his weight nervously. “Uh, a bit of both?”

I held back a smile. “Which one is more?”

He sighed. “The second one.”

I stared at him for a moment before shrugging. “Fair enough.”

“Wait!” Harry called as I walked away, “does that mean you’ll go with me!”

I turned around and flashed him a smile. “I think you know the answer to that.”