Disclaimer: I truly am touched if you think my writing is good enough to be JK Rowling's, but it's not.
Once again, please please review.
In Potions when Erin walked up to turn in her sample, and Professor Potter smiled up at her.
"Hello Erin, how'd it go today?" She asked.
"Fine." Erin said neutrally, but knowing she'd be forced to make small talk until she acted friendly, Erin continued. "The last step of the potion was difficult. I think I may have got the timing of the stirring a little off, which is why I think my potion turned out with a turquoise tinted blue, rather than pure cerulean." It was a lie, Erin had completed the potion perfectly, but Professor Potter liked Erin to talk to her about her problems.
"Well, timing is the hardest part of potion making, I'm sure your potion turned out well despite it." Professor Potter smiled again, this time encouraging, supposedly. "I'll see you tomorrow." Erin smiled and walked away, cursing the fact that she had history next, meaning she'd have to put up with Professor Black, who would no doubt ask about her relationship with Christopher.
"Listen Ms. Dumbledore, I'd like to offer you a little advice. You see you and Chris remind me of Professor Potter and her husband at your age. They hated each other at that age. James, well he asked her out every chance he got, and Lily, she refused until seventh year. They missed a lot of time in between, and I don't want that to happen to you. Just give Chris a chance, he's really a good kid, even if he seems obnoxious, it's just because he's nervous." Professor Black said in a kindly voice that made Erin mentally grind her teeth.
"Look, Professor Black I appreciate you giving me advice, but I don't think Christopher and I are meant to be, I just don't care for him in that way. He's a good friend, but we've grownup together, he's more like a brother to me. I don't think Chris is obnoxious, I just think he's trying to please his parents by asking me out." Erin said as politely as she could muster.
"Well think about giving him a chance, he may turn out to be more that a brother." Professor Black said, finally allowing Erin to leave. She exited the classroom with relief. Ginny was waiting for her outside the door.
"What'd he want?" Asked Ginny.
"Nothing much, just to talk to me about my last essay." Lied Erin, Knowing if she told the truth she would receive a 'why not' from Ginny too. They chatted about nothing in particular as they headed to the Great Hall for Lunch. Unsurprisingly, Chris came to sit with them, along with his friends Ron, Dean, Hermione and Seamus.
"Hey Erin, How're classes going?" Asked Christopher.
"Pretty good, you?" Erin replied politely as everyone sat down and started eating.
"The same. What about training? Did you figure out transfiguring wandlessly?" Asked Chris.
"Yeah, it just took some practice. How's your shield, can you keep it up for over three minute now?" Erin asked as she helped herself to some pumpkin juice.
"Almost, I'm just a few seconds off, but you've always been better at wandless magic than me." Chris smiled at her in a friendly way, but as always he seemed nervous when talking to her. "Look, you're sure you're to busy Saturday? I mean, you look like you could use a break, besides, it is a Hogsmead Weekend after all." Erin cursed the dark circles under her eyes. She had been up late reading.
"I'm fine." Erin answered. 'For the millionth time' she added in her head.
Saturday finally came. After her morning jog, Erin visited the kitchens to get a sack lunch, and ended up with enough food to camp for three days. Not wanting to appear rude, Erin smiled graciously and dropped off most of the snacks to her dorm room. She then changed into jeans and a t-shirt, bringing her a jacket, which she put into her muggle bag that was actually a computer bag, though Erin had never used a computer. Once she was again outside, Erin sighed in relief.
It was April and the sun had begun to be warm again. A pleasant breeze blew across the trees. Erin smiled. It was good to be where she knew she wasn't being watched. She knew her father always watched her when she jogged in the morning, and returned to his desk once he saw her go inside.
Erin hesitated at the edge of the Forbidden Forest. It really was stupid to go in without telling anyone. Oh well, besides if she did tell anyone, she wouldn't be able to go without a chaperone. Once inside the forest, Erin relaxed. This was the first time she'd been more that thirty feet away from a watchful eye. Erin felt at ease as she walked past the ominous trees. The mossy earth smell of the trees relaxed Erin as she continued. While walking Erin thought about Ginny, her best friend.
It was obvious her father had asked Ginny to make friends her, for Ginny was a constant reminder to get together with Chris Potter. Erin thought of her life as depressing. When her father would think of something he wanted her to do, he would never force her to do it, but steadily put pressure on her from all sides. The best example was Chris. Everyone seemed to be trying to convince her that she and Chris were perfect for each other. However, although Erin appreciated how dependable Christopher was, they had grown up together, they had known each other since they had been three years old. They had started training together. However, while Chris had gotten to enjoy the attention and passively studied to defeat He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, Erin had turned away from the attention, and thrown herself at her studies that she now depended on to survive. It was hard to word, but most of all Erin felt that no one just saw her. They always saw the future Mrs. Potter, and the future war leader.
What frustrated Erin the most, was that everyone thought they knew better than her, and that they had the right to decide how her life would go. The only other person who could ever understand that was Chris, and he didn't seem to mind it.
As she continued, Erin used the point me spell to determine her direction several times before the trees started to thin out and the hill was visible. It was a fairly steep climb over a rocky wall to the grassy area that the dragon liked so much.
Erin closed her eyes and listened to a stream nearby. Surprisingly enough, the forest seemed non-dark and non-dangerous. From up on the hill the whole world was cheerful and the war against Voldemort wasn't going on. Erin had found her special place.
Hey, just a reminder, if you look down to see the word "Review this story" and click it and actually review, I'll be eternally grateful.
