The Scheming Begins

"Well, no offense or anything, but you do sound sort of pathetic. Listen to yourself! He his being hunted down by a mad man! Do you think he enjoys having to act the hero? Would you enjoy that? Huh? Living your life in fear because you know that you are number one on a dark wizards hit list? Not just any dark wizard, but Lord Voldemort! He may have friends and popularity and a lot of things that you don't, but just think about what it would be like to live like him. The reason that you don't have any friends is because you don't open yourself up to anyone! Not all Slytherins are evil, you could become friends with one of them and no one would care! You shut yourself away and don't let anybody near you. You put on an act to scare any chance of a real friend away!" And with that I storm away, into the castle and up to Gryffindor tower.


As I enter the Gryffindor common room, I notice Ron and Harry playing chess in the corner. Quickly deciding that they wouldn't understand, I rush up to my dorm, hoping that they don't see me. When I enter the seemingly empty dorm, I release a sigh of relief that I can have some quiet time.

"Erin?" I turn around, realizing that I am not alone, to find Ginny Weasley reading a magazine next to Hermione who was laying on her bed reading a book, "Oh my god, what happened?" I have been told that my face is easy to read when I am upset, but I guess that I my face betrays me faster than I thought.

"Yeah, I'm fine." I say making a smirk appear on Hermione's face.

"I am definitely starting to see some similarities between you and Harry," at my questioning look she continues,"That is his routine answer for everything. Every time that you ask him if he is okay or how he is he responds that he is "fine". So don't even try that with me. I have learned that no matter what, whenever someone says that they are fine, that they most definitely are not. So what happened?" Wow this girl has got me wired already. No wonder she is the smartest in the class.

"It's Draco... he took me outside and we went flying. It was so fun and he was so cute and nice. But, then I asked why he hated Harry so much. I'm sorry I was just curious. But, he is such an idiot, he is jealous of Harry!" I sit down on my bed and start getting so wound up that I nearly forget I'm talking to them, "So he told me the whole story and then I just blew up at him. I mean, how could someone be jealous of a kid whose parents died before he can even remember? How could he be jealous of someone who is being hunted down by a psychopathic mass-murderer? And he can't say that his life is so bad and he had nothing to do with it." By this point I am pretty much talking to myself, trying desperately to figure Draco out. "Draco is the one who closes himself up. He is the one who listens to his parents and used to practically eat off every word that they said. I mean, he was brought up that way, but he could have realized years ago that the stuff that his dad was telling him was absolute bullshit. He is the one who let his dad set him up to be the next right-hand man to the damn Snake Bastard. He makes me so frustrated!" With this said I look up and remember that I am not alone. Hermione and Ginny sit varying expressions on their faces. Hermione looks almost calculating, as if thinking through what I had said. Ginny, however, looked very confused, having not heard any of the earlier discussions concerning Draco.

"Wow. I always thought that Draco was jealous of Harry, but I thought that he hated him because he destroyed You-Know-Who, also. I didn't realize that he actually understands that everything that his father is telling him is stupid."

"Wait, are you saying that Draco is good?" Ginny Weasley asks me. It sort of surprises me, we have never talked before. We have never been formally introduced but I have known who she is since the first time I saw her red hair.

"Absolutely. As soon as he gets his head out of his ass I figure that he will be over on our side in a heartbeat. Of course, the whole getting his head out of his ass may take a while. I, however, intend on speeding up the process." At the end of this Hermione is having difficulty keeping the stern look on her face and I catch glimpses of the corners out her mouth twitching up.

"Wow, Erin." Ginny begins, "You're on your way to achieving what Dumbledore has been attempting to do for years." At my puzzling look she continues on,"Dumbledore likes to believe the best in people. He has always liked to believe that, at this school, he would be able to persuade the already molded death eaters to join our side. He has given them some push towards us, but from what I have seen in my first 3 years nothing has ever worked. All the bad boy Slytherins have stayed bad boy Slytherins. Not that I don't like bad boy Slytherins," she adds in with a blush, "I just don't like bad boy Slytherins that are dark wizards."

Trying to change the topic after her little slip up she asks, "So how was the rest of you night with him?" Ginny asks.

"Um..." after thinking it over I realize how great it was. "It was amazing. He took me out to the Quidditch Pitch and flew me on his broom with him. Then we took a walk around the lake and he was just so sweet. It was all perfect until I asked about Harry. I mean I was just curious, because to me Harry and Draco are both amazing guys. I wanted to know how it went wrong, because although you will think that I am crazy, I think that if they really got to know each other they would become good friends. They are so similar and it is because of this that makes them enemies, they just don't realize it. They are both extremely ambitious and brave, and each of them is a good balance of Gryffindor and Slytherin. I am guessing that growing up, Draco had heard how great Slytherin was and that Harry and been told that Gryffindor is the best. They chose for themselves. I just wish that I could tell them."

"You should Erin," Hermione began, "maybe not just yet. But, in time if you get them to maybe tolerate each other I suggest that you tell them. I am willing to bet that in a few weeks both of them will be extremely loyal to you, and both of them will care for you so much that they may listen to you."

"How about in two weeks you talk to them?" At this Hermione and I turn to Ginny, "Set a goal for yourself so that you don't spend the year miserable because two of your friends are enemies. So, over the next two weeks just act like yourself and maybe try to talk to them about each other a little. But, it being only the second day and seeing how attached they are to you already, I am saying that by the end of the tow weeks that they will do anything for you. It may be tough, but I will definitely help you. I have always hoped that there was another side to Draco. I mean he is gorgeous and a girl can hope."

"I will help too."

"So it's official. Two weeks from today I will sit down with Harry and Draco and I will talk and they will talk."


Ginny's POV

As I stare up at the banister of my bed, I think about what Erin said. Hmm … bad boy Slytherin Draco Malfoy good? Could it be? That was my first true encounter with her, but I can sense that I can trust her. Must be what the Golden Trio felt. I have to say, I felt a slight sting of jealousy at the way that Harry was looking at her, but that's in the past. We're just friends now. And I think that he and Erin look cute together. Although she seems to like Draco.

Draco. That gorgeous blonde. Could he be good? That would be a huge win for the girls of Hogwarts. I mean, no one wants to date a Death Eater… well except Pansy Parkinson. But she doesn't deserve him anyway.

The whole Erin situation with Draco and Harry is interesting though. If she can make them friends she is a miracle maker. She will become a god around here. And I think she likes Draco, but I can see the way she is with Harry. And I've certainly seen how Harry is with her. The secret glances he throws at her. I wonder if he's as thick as Ron and hasn't even noticed the crush he's developed. Possibly.


Erin's POV

The next morning at breakfast I sit in my already usual spot next to Hermione.

As I sit down Harry looks up to me with a strange face that I can't quite read. I think it might be somewhere between hope, desperation, annoyance, and is that jealousy I see? It can't be. I mean how can one face show all of that at the same time. It's impossible… I think."So how was your . . . date with Malfoy?" Date? With Draco? Actually now that I think about it I realize a date with Draco is exactly what I want, even if he is being the world's biggest git. While I think about this, I turn my head down and stare at my plate. But I thought I liked Harry? How am I supposed to choose between two gorgeous boys when I want both of them just as much as the other? Well, maybe I like Harry a little bit more? I don't know. Even if I like Harry he doesn't like me, I mean why would he? He has every girl at the school crawling at his feet, girls much prettier than me.

As I look up I see Harry staring at me waiting for an answer, "It wasn't a date, or I don't think it was." As I say this Harry's face shows relief that it wasn't a date, but sadness that I would consider going on a date with Draco. "But it was great, even if the night ended in us fighting." At the point where I say that it was great, even more sadness crosses over his face, and then anger and relief again when I tell him that the date ended in a fight.

Red in the face, Harry stands up, "What did he do to you? Did he hurt you? What did the git say?"

"Harry sit down! That is none of your business!" Hermione hisses at Harry, "She doesn't need your protection."

"Thanks Hermione. Harry he didn't hurt me. I may have overreacted a bit, but what he was saying was just so stupid that I couldn't believe that he actually believed it. He was actually a perfect gentlemen." At the word "gentlemen" Ron scoffs and starts laughing.

"Are you sure? Malfoy not hurting a Gryffindor is really something, I didn't know that his tiny Slytherin brain could do something that smart."

"Ron, Draco is very smart. He is second in our year, just because he's Slytherin doesn't mean that you have to shut him down once you learn that there may be some hope for him," Hermione helpfully interjects.

"Draco? Since when did you start calling Malfoy, Draco? Soon he will be calling you Hermione! And it's not because he's a Slytherin that I am shutting him down it's because he's MALFOY! He is the one that has tortured us countless times over the years! He's a DEATH EATER for Christ's sake! He's the one that thinks that Harry is the worst thing to happen to Hogwarts! He is the one who offered to show Harry who the 'right' sort are. He is Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy's son! Bellatrix Lestrange's favorite nephew! He was cheering for Harry to get killed last year in the tournament and was the reason that Buckbeak almost got killed. Malfoy and his dad have tried to get Hagrid and Dumbledore fired time and time again! He's FERRET FACE! Not a gentlemen! DEFINITELY not a bloody gentlemen!"

"RONALD WEASLEY! Sirius was related to the Malfoy's and Lestrange's and he came out all right. His parents were horrible, also! Erin believes that he has changed and I am willing to listen to her and give him a shot!"

"Look Ron I don't know about half of the stuff that you just said, but I can tell that he is a good guy deep down. He was brought up to believe that Lord Voldemort was the best wizard alive and that muggle-borns and muggles deserve to be killed. If you had been brought up like that you would have turned out the same way! He is starting to realize how much of a jerk he has been to you, but he has to keep up his image for his dad. Can you imagine how much trouble he would be in if his dad thought that he was being nice to Gryffindors. Or if Voldemort found out? He is jealous of Harry and that's what I got mad about last night. I realize that you don't like the fame or the pressure . I realize that you would trade in everything to have your parents back but he doesn't. He doesn't love his parents, or even know what love is like so he doesn't know what he is missing out on. He even said that no parents are better than his parents! Draco thought that your fame was undeserved and that the attention that you got from the teachers was undeserved, but he is coming around now. He is jealous of your friends, and the amazing amount of loyalty that you show each other. I am even jealous of it. Everyone is. Harry, Draco sees you as a hero, he even said so, but he didn't understand until recently that being the hero isn't all fun and games. Look, I know that this is hard for all of you; Ron, Hermione, Ginny, especially Harry, but I am asking you just to understand him a little more and see if that makes a difference." I look into their faces begging them to believe me, "You guys have become to mean so much to me and it has only been a few days, but you have shown me such kindness and I wish that you could see Draco how I see him. I think I am going to head back up now, I am tired of trying to convince you for the morning."

As I get up to leave Harry stands up too, "I'll come with you. I can't say that I believe you yet, but I trust you and think I may in time."

"Thank you Harry!"

"Hey I didn't say I forgive him or want to be friends with him or anything! Maybe just acquaintances for a while."


So I have just begun finals and being the procrastinator I am, have been working on the story a bit. Hence why 2 chapters have been posted so quickly. This one's a little shorter, but I felt like just getting it up. I should probably study Calc… fun. Knowing me and the finals I have next week, chapter 5 will probably be up soon.

PLEASE PLEASE REVIEW!