Thanks for the review….. yeah, chapter one is kind of a dud, but hopefully it gets better. Erika Prewett is a character I have made up based on the personalities of my favorite people. For the purpose of my story, she is the daughter of Molly's brother, Fabian, and his new wife, Eirisina (also made up). Yes, Molly's brothers did die during the first war, but that comes into play later on. Very sorry for the misclarification!!

10:30 p.m. One Week After the Attack…

Erika lay silent and totally still in the infirmary. Ron refused to sleep in the common room. What if she woke up during the night and no one was there to help her? Her injuries were worse than he had thought. She had broken 2 ribs, one of which punctured her right lung. Michael cracked her skull with that last hit which made her brain swell, and she had a lot of internal bleeding. Of course, Madame Pomfrey fixed everything, but she would have to stay in the hospital wing for a long time. She was in a coma state, which made everybody very nervous. The Weasleys, Harry and Hermione didn't know how they would take it she didn't wake up. Ron's head swirled with all the details, and he drifted off into an uneasy sleep, nightmares of woman beaters setting in.

2:00 a.m. The Next Morning…

Erika's eyes fluttered open. She didn't know where she was at first, but as her poor vision cleared to its normal badness, she recognized the blurry white curtains that belonged to the Hospital Wing. 'He must have really done it this time.' She thought. She had been to infirmary because of him a few times, but she never had to stay over night before. She went to reach for her glasses, but she suddenly realized that she couldn't move her arm. She couldn't move anything for that matter. 'He's paralyzed me? Oh my gosh!!' she thought. Panic ran like a marathon through her mind, and she frantically looked around the room as much as she could. She saw a little glint of red hair in the corner of her eye, and immediately began going through the names that matched it.

"Ginny! Fred, George! Ron! Whoever it is, please wake up!!" she said as loud as she could, which wasn't very loud. Thank goodness that someone was there, otherwise she would have had to lay there until morning until someone would know she as awake. Whoever was sitting in the chair got up and went to her side.

"Erika, shhh, it's alright. I'm here. Thank God you're awake." The voice said, and instantly knew it was Ron.

"What happened to me?" Erika asked.

"You mean you don't remember?" Ron questioned.

"The last thing I remember running away from Mich…… from someone." Erika said, looking away from Ron. He always knew when she was trying to hide something.

"Don't you dare try to shield that evil prat!!! We all know what he's done to you. He had to take veritasserum and recount every time he ever laid a hand on you. About half way through it, I had to just get up and leave. I couldn't take it. He has treated you so awful. He nearly killed you this time, you know. You've been in this bed for a week without any signs of recovery." Ron said, pacing back and forth beside her bed, talking with his hands wildly.

"What did he do this time? I seriously can't remember." Erika sighed, staring up at the ceiling, letting all this information sink in.

"Well, he said you threatened to tell the school about his anger problems. He threatened to hurt you if you did, you ran for it but he caught up with you, he slung you into the wall, you stood back up and broke his nose, he slapped you and you hit the wall again. I saw that part. He hit you so hard that your head sort of bounced off the wall before you blacked out. That's all true because he was still under the veritasserum." Ron said, throwing himself back into his chair and sighing. Everything was silent for a long time. Erika didn't know what to say. She never thought Michael would ever take it this far, but it really didn't surprise her. She was about to say something, but Ron spoke up first.

"I don't know how you put up with all that for two years. I mean, you knew what he was doing was wrong, didn't you?" Ron said, throwing his hand in the air. This didn't make any sense to him. How could someone so smart be so stupid?

"Of course I did, Ron! I just didn't want…. to be alone." Erika replied. "I mean, really… who wants to be with me…. The fat girl? Nobody, that's who. I just wanted to feel wanted. Is that such a crime? Besides, I'm going to pay for my stupidity. I'm probably paralyzed, so quit grilling me." Erika said, knowing that it still wouldn't be the end of it.

"No, I wont! You don't know how bad it hurt to see one of you best friends in the state you're in. All because some guy couldn't control his anger. We didn't know if you were going to make it. We've all been out of our minds with worry. I've sat here every night since it happened, making sure someone was here when you woke up. It's been a nightmare. And you're not paralyzed. It's a potion to keep you still because you needed to be totally still for some of your injuries to heal. You had a lot of internal bleeding." Ron said, putting his head in his hands, then leaning back in his chair to stare at the ceiling.

"Ron, I'm really sorry, I don't know what to say. Just don't be mad at me. I really…" Erika said, but was interrupted.

"I'm not mad, just don't let someone do this to you again. And don't be sorry, you didn't ask for this to happen, but you could have prevented it. You didn't have to stay with him. I never want to see you like this ever again because of some heartless prat who doesn't know when to stop. And you will not end up alone. Someone is out there for you; you just haven't found him yet." Ron said, pulling his chair closer to the bed so he could prop his feet up on the edge of the bed. Silence set in again. Erika knew he was right, and she really didn't feel like arguing anymore. She decided to just let it go for now. And Ron looked dreadfully tired. He wasn't going to sleep in that chair any longer if she could help it.

"Thank you for staying with me. Tell all the others that I thank them too. And I promise I will never let anyone do anything like this to me ever again. Now, since I'm going to be fine, you go on up to the common room and get a good night's sleep. I'll still be here in the morning." Erika said.

"Are you sure? I'll stay as long as you want me to." Ron said, but she knew that he wanted to go up to his dormitory.

"Yes, I'm sure. No go on." Erika said.

"Ok, but I'll be back in the morning to check on you."

"Ok."

Ron smiled at her and waved his hand to her. She smiled back and listened to his footsteps until she couldn't hear them anymore.

Harry heard the dormitory door creak open. He grasped his wand, just in case. He peered out from behind the curtains on his four poster and breathed a sigh or relief. Ron had come back form the hospital, which meant something good had happened! He wouldn't have left unless she told him to leave.

"What are you doing back? Did she wake up?" Harry asked.

"Yeah. We had a little talk about her little boyfriend and how bad she scared us. She's going to be fine. She said to tell you thank you for visiting her. I'm just glad she woke up." Ron said as he climbed into bed.

"Yeah, me too." Harry said, settling back down in his bed and smiling. He had been worried about Erika, but he was worried about Ron, too. Ron had seen the jerk shove her into the wall, and it had to be heartbreaking. He probably would have went ballistic on the guy. Ron had barely eaten anything (which meant something was really wrong) and any free moment was spent in the hospital wing. Harry went with him most of the time. Erika had looked really beaten up, bandages all over her head and arms, but she was still just as pretty as she always did. He didn't know how she managed to look as good as she did.

Harry had offered to stay with Erika during the night, but Ron wouldn't have it, and there was only one person allowed in her room at night. He would make sure he beat Ron to her room in the morning. He had some things to tell her about her stupid boyfriend as well. He didn't believe his ears when Ginny had told him what had been going on for nearly two years. He was white-hot with anger, he hated seeing his friends in pain, because of some other stupid person. Setting the alarm on his watch a little earlier that he had planned for, he drifted back to sleep, back into one of his nightmares.

4:00 a.m., a few hours later

Erika's eyes blinked halfway open as she felt a gentle nudge on her shoulder. She felt like she hadn't slept in years, even though she had been in that bed for over a week, sleeping. She shifted slowly onto her side and squinted in the direction of the clock on her beside table. Her eyes widened as she read the time. She didn't even take the time to see who her disturber was.

"Don't you realize that it is 4:00 in the morning, whoever you are? Well since you are here, be a doll and find my glasses so I can figure out who you are, then I'll kindly know who it is that I'm blessing out for waking me up." Erika said, wincing at sharp pains running through her whole body as she sat up. She really hated being woken up when she was sleeping so comfortably. Whoever the intruder was better have a good reason for waking her up.

"Calm down, it's Harry. Gosh, you're most pleasant in the morning." Harry said sarcastically as he retrieved the lime green and pink spectacles from the pile of neatly folded clothes lying on one of the chairs that surrounded her bed. He handed the glasses to Erika, and she quickly put them on. She recognized the set of clothes as the last outfit she remembered putting on. Someone must have cleaned them for her, most likely Hermione.

"What brings you down here so early? Did you miss me?" Erika said, dragging out the word 'miss' and giggling like a little girl that had found hidden candy.

"I'm glad to see you find being dead to the world for over a week humorous. Of course I missed you. I actually had to fall back on asking Hermione for help on my homework like I did during first year. You pretty much have to beg her for help." Harry said dismally as he flopped into one of the chairs. He looked up at her and smirked, waiting to see what she was going to say.

"And I'm glad to find out that all I am to you is a human study guide." Erika said with fake enthusiasm.

"Chill out, I'm just kidding. So, how have you been for the last two hours since you woke up from your week long absence?" Harry asked.

"How did you know I woke up two hours ago?" Erika asked, forgetting his question.

"Well, the deal is that I've actually been in here the whole time under the invisibility cloak. I've been making sure that the idiot woman beater doesn't come in here while Ron dozed off." Harry said jokingly, but then he saw the look of scorn on her face. He straightened up immediately and said, "Ron told me you woke up."

"Lovely. He probably told you that we had a little fight, too, didn't he? He can't keep his mouth shut for nothing." Erika said.

"Actually he didn't say anything about that, he just said that you two talked about how bad you scared us." Harry replied.

"Oh, well I guess I'm the one with the big mouth. Now, throw me that pile of clothes. I can't take this hospital any longer." Erika said, as she pulled herself out of the bed and stood waiting for her clothes.

"Hey, where are you sprinting off to?" Harry asked as he tossed Erika her clothes, groaning as he pulled himself up out of the chair.

"Since you woke me up and there is no hope of me going back to sleep, I've done a little thinking. I spend way too much time in this dreadful hospital. I can finish getting better somewhere else. I hate this place with a flipping passion, and I'm leaving it and not coming back unless I'm dying." Erika said, grabbing her clothes and stepping into the empty set of curtains next to her little cubicle.

"Wow, you really do think fast. But you know, dying is what you might very well be. We don't know if you've healed up enough to leave yet, so get back in here, or…. I'm sicking Ron on you."

"Go ahead, you know he can't stop me. He hates it when I pitch a bch fit. And don't you go ordering me around, Harry Potter," Erika said as she finished changing and pulled whatever hair that wasn't under a bandage back into a messy ponytail. She wrenched back the curtains as Harry's silhouette came back into focus. "I am capable of making my own decisions."

"Apparently not, because if you were, you wouldn't be in this in this dreadful hospital so much with big hand sized bruises on you." Harry said, casually returning to his seat.

"On, you're not going to go on about Michael too, are you? Of all people I thought you wouldn't say anything. I'm going to hear enough from Ron, Ginny, Fred and George, Hermione, well pretty much everybody. I'm never going to live this one down. I might as well just…'

"…No, I wasn't going to say anything but that Michael -a.k.a. Enemy numero uno- got expelled right after they gave him some truth serum and spilled his foul, loathsome guts, so you don't have to worry about him giving you any more concussions any time soon. Madame Pomfry said that you've been in here more times than me! And half of the time with a concussion. I personally hate the feeling of my head feeling like it's about to explode, but whatever floats your boat." Harry said. He picked up a magazine off the big stack that Ron had brought down to keep himself occupied when he sat there for hours. Erika glanced back at him and laughed a little.

"Your insufferable, and, for your information, it was a contusion this time, lots worse than a concussion, and I'm still here so I'll be fine. But really, I've got to get out of here or I'll go ballistic, and you know how bad my ballistic-ness is." Erika said, gathering the rest of her stuff and putting them into her newly discovered school bag. She tried to pick of the bag, but it was so heavy, and she was too weak to lift the load.

"Fine, but don't come crying to me when your unhealed insides spontaneously combust from lack of proper rest. And I am not going to clean that mess up when u blow up." Harry said as he flipped lazily through the magazine.

"Oh, hush it. I'm just going back to the common room, and I'll stay put there if that will make you happy." Erika said and she started off for the common room, her school bag sliding across the floor as she dragged it behind her.

"Yep, happy now. I don't want you down here anymore either, I just want you to get better. Oh, quit dragging that tank of a book bag and hand it here." Harry said as he reached for the bag.

"No, I've got it.."

"…It's too heavy for you to…"

"…I'm fine, just leave me…"

"…HAND IT OVER…"

"…Fine!! Here!" Erika whispered scathingly.

"Thank you. I've always wanted to carry this thing, see what it felt like to be smart. Feels heavy. Glad that I'm not that smart." Harry said, smirking and throwing the bag over his shoulder.

"That's the price of being a slave to knowledge. Your ball and chain is that book bag and your punishment for being a genius is that you can never soak up enough information and facts. You are a sponge that never gets fully saturated. Dismal, I know." Erika said.

"No it's not. If I was a little smarter, I might have thought of a spectacular plan to get rid of Voldemort, but I really have not idea what to do. But, I'll probably just stumble into whatever happens. Sure fire plan." Harry said, sighing and grimacing. He tried not to think about his inevitable, dreary future, but most of the time, it was impossible.

"You'll come up with something. You always do, even if it is at the last second." Erika said, smiling at him, hoping she could cheer him up. He smiled back. They kept talking the rest of the way up and they had just passed the corridor that led to the Headmaster's office a few moments earlier when they heard something they really didn't want to hear.

"PROFESSOR DUMBLEDORE!" screamed a voice that Erika knew all too well. She pulled Harry into a deserted corridor and cautiously peered around the corner. She saw a livid Madame Pomfry heading up the headmaster's staircase. Erika tiptoed closer to the gargoyle that guarded the spiral stairs and she could clearly hear Madame Pomfry's ranting. Harry was right behind her.

"What is it, Poppy? What happened?" said the cheerful voice of Professor Dumbledore.

"Miss Prewett is not in her bed in the infirmary. She has never sneaked out of the hospital before. Now, I care about that child like she is my own. If something's happened to her I don't know what I'll do. She didn't leave a note or anything. That is so unlike her." Madame Pomfry said, her voice quivering as if she was about to burst into tears.

"Now, Poppy. She's around here somewhere. She probably just got tired of being in the infirmary all by herself. Mr. Corner is far away at the Wizard Delinquent Alternative School. I would think that she's in the Gryffindor common room right now." Dumbledore said in a soothing voice.

"That dreadful boy might have owled her and talked her into meeting him somewhere. I knew something was wrong when she came in the first time with bruises all over her arms. I knew quidditch wasn't the cause for all those bruises, even if Mr. Potter was her drill sergeant. She's probably gone back to that Corner boy now. She always does." Madame Pomfry said. Erika made to say some right nasty comments, but Harry held her back.

"If you go up there now, you're going to be right back in the hospital wing….." Harry said, as he heard footsteps coming back down from the staircase.

"I'm sure she is safe in her dormitory. Mr. Weasley was probably there when she woke up, so I'm certain that he had something to say about her boyfriend." Dumbledore said.

"Well, I'm going up there to check on her. And I'll want to be notified the second she wakes up. She's not going to like what I have to say," came Madame Pomfry's voice echoing down the stairs.

"Come on before she sees us." Erika said, and started to run despite the agonizing pain that was pulsing through her whole being.

"For someone who just woke up from a coma, you run really fast." Harry said, trying to keep up with her and drag her book bag at the same time.

"I've had enough practice running from Michael, since I'm apparently not capable of leaving him." Erika said. She reached the portrait of the Fat lady and muttered the password, but the door didn't open. She looked at Harry with an expression he had never seen before- confusion.

"That's not the password anymore. They changed it when you got hurt because if Michael got in somehow and you told him the password, he'd be able to get to you. It's 'get better Erika'. You mean more to people than you think, so don't ever get involved with a guy like that again." Harry said as let Erika in the common room first, then ran in himself. He threw her school bag onto the nearest common room couch so that Madame Pomfry would know that she was here.

"Now go before she gets in here." Harry said, as he ran up the boy's dormitory staircase.

"Harry?" Erika's said as she paused at the bottom of the stairs.

"Yeah?" Harry answered, poking his head around the corner.

"Thanks for nearly getting caught with me." Erika said, smiling.

"Anytime." Harry said smirking back, and they both turned up opposite staircases and climbed into their beds.