His path first crossed Eliza's when he was an uninterested student at Hogwarts. He never would admit what House he'd been in, but questions posed to the right people produced a surprising answer: Hufflepuff. It was easy to assume that all who went over the line to the Darkness came from Slytherin. Hermione knew better than most what a ridiculous assumption that was to make. He loved the witch from afar, too shy and cowardly to tell her. Not until they were both out of school and he was working in the greenhouse of an apothecary did he find the nerve to ask her out for a pint.