The four of them had been sitting together for awhile without talking. "So," Ron said finally. "Apparition lessons coming up. Should be interesting, learning how. Fred and George did it first time."

"If you do it right the first time do you have to continue going to the lessons?" Erin asked.

"I don't know, but you can't take the test until you're 17."

"There's always a catch." Erin sighed. "So, Hermione could already take it."

"If I knew what I was doing, which I don't." She said sighing a little. "Another thing you can't learn from a book."

"It's good for you to be like the rest of us at some things." Harry told her leaning his head back against the stone wall, eyes closed. He'd been like that for awhile now.

"What was it like doing side-along for the first time?" Ron asked Harry eagerly.

"I threw up," he told them. "Apparently that's what people usually do."

"Harry, are you all right?" Erin asked him softly.

"Tired. I went to see Dumbledore went he got back. He showed me when Voldemort was about 16 and went and killed his father and grandparents. He left his Uncle Morfin to take the blame for it. Morfin was even convinced he did do it."

"He killed his own father?" Hermione asked looking surprised.

"Why not? He blamed him for leaving his mother, his mother dying giving birth to him, leaving him to live in an orphanage. The only place he found any acceptance was at Hogwarts, a gift he received from his mother." Harry shrugged. "He's not the first to think that way. He won't be the last."

Hermione almost slammed into Erin's room with her books. "You will not believe what HE did this time!"

Erin barely looked up. "Which 'he' are we talking about this time?" She asked as she wrote out the answer to a question on the worksheet from one of her classes.

"Harry, of course! We had to come up with an antidote to poisons in class today! And do you know what he did?"

"Got a bezoar, because it works as an antidote to most poisons?" Erin asked not too serious, but knowing Harry. She grinned.

"How did you know?"

"I was right?" She smiled.

"I know he got the idea from that book of his! Where else could he have known it from?"

"First day of Potions class, first year, Hermione." Erin rolled her eyes.

"What?"

"Snape told us that first day of class. Don't you remember?"

"Of course I do, but Harry—"

"If you value our friendship you won't continue that sentence." Erin warned her. "Harry knows a bezoar is used, stop blaming the book because Harry is reckless and has mad ideas that actually work. Now, calm down, you don't have to be top of the class all the time."

"Yes, I do!"

Erin sighed. "Hermione, technically since I am taking more classes than you are and doing just as well as you are…I'm top of the year, not you. But I usually don't mention that because you're highly competitive and can be a bit petty when it comes to this."

"You don't care about being top of the year though!" Hermione said waving off what she said. "I study and study just to do it and you just do it!"

Erin laughed. "You think I just do it?" She held her bruises ribs because it hurt to laugh right now. "You honestly think? Oh, that's rich! Hermione, I just use the time turner so well no one guesses how much I honestly study. I think this year will be two years for me with how much time I use. I can't wait until holidays. And it doesn't help that I keep getting hurt and pushing things back. I'm lucky though, being laid up. I don't have to actually go to class and just do the work. That takes up so much less time. I'm enjoying the time off."

"I didn't realize you were working so hard…"

"If I'm to get into the American University I have to do my best. It will mean so much to so many people actually opening a University here where anyone can study."

"It will…I would go if I could."

"I know…I'm going to miss you when we go."

"What am I going to do without you?"

"You're going to work for the Ministry and push through legislation for the fair treatment of magical creatures."

"I could do that…it would be wonderful to take SPEW further."

"Not just SPEW, Hermione…think about it. Hippogriffs, Centaurs, Mermaids…there was a time when many magical beings were equal…not how it is now."

"There was?"

"Yes, in the days of Camelot…you know Hogwarts was built on the ruins of Camelot?"

"Yes, I remember reading that somewhere."

"There was a place around the Round Table for the Seven Sentient creatures of our world: Wizard, Centaur, Merpeople, Goblin, House Elf, Veela, and the Moon Folk. Around that table all were equal. All were equal in the wizarding world. Creatures weren't put to death because someone in power wanted them to be. Because all were equal and all were given fair trials. How far we've come from that ideal," she sighed.

"Maybe we can try and change that." Hermione told her. "We can try, can't we?"

"We can." They looked up to see Mira coming in with some gifts from Erin's well-wishers. "Snape checked to make sure there weren't any bad things in here." She told the girls. Her white cat trotted in behind her and jumped up on Erin's bed wanting to be pet.

"What's his name?"

"Regulus," Mira said without really thinking about it.

"He's beautiful."

"He thinks so." Regulus just purred as Erin scratched behind his ears. Oh, yeah, just the right spot. That felt sooooo good. "Seriously? You're pathetic."

"Yeah, well, Erin's now my new favorite then." Regulus said turning on his back so she could get his belly.

"Yeah, like that's a surprise." She rolled her eyes.

Erin and Hermione exchanged a look not saying anything. A talking cat was not the strangest thing they'd seen.