A/N So, I have been slowly writing this all week in little chunks. Then I reread it this afternoon and it made almost no sense when put all together and I spent a long time editing.

What do you guys say to weekend updates?

Chapter 36

It had been hard enough to witness Voldemort's return.

(Every night the same dream, but this time it was of her own invention, just a regular old nightmare. At least that was better than seeing someone else's dreams.)

It had been hard enough to hear the whispers of her classmates.

("She saw the whole thing, didn't she?" "She's You-Know-Who's daughter, right?" "Can't believe we've been going to school with her all this time and never known." "Crazy bitch." "Never trusted her.")

It had been hard enough to have to stand the pitying, distrustful looks of her family.

(As much as they loved her, would accept her no matter who's daughter she was, it still stung that she hadn't trusted them enough to tell them.)

It had been hard enough to have to say goodbye to Draco at the end of the year.

(How was she supposed to survive a whole summer without him? He was her rock, her constant, her sanity in the midst of the insane. She couldn't do it without him.)

Now Dumbledore expected her to help him.

(She was just a child.)

There was nowhere in the house that Erin could escape the yelling, so she decided outside would be better for her mental health. She knew that her siblings were sitting on the stairs listening in as Percy had it out with their parents, but she had no interest in hearing his betrayal. It was beyond terrible, having to listen to her big brother, her protector, the person who had found and comforted her when she was so upset she had been sorted into Slytherin house, betray them like this. He thought they were all crazy, listening to that crackpot Dumbledore and his golden boy Harry Potter say that Voldemort was back.

If he thought them crazy, did he think her insane, too?

Erin sat on the edge of the fence, almost past the line that Molly had set for all of them that summer that they were not to cross for any reason. It was for their own safety, she assured them, setting boundaries and making new rules and even deciding to move them into Grimmauld Place for the remainder of the summer. That, moving in with Sirius Black, had been the last straw for Percy. He had started screaming, and Molly and Arthur had started screaming back, and Erin had retreated outside so that she didn't have to hear it anymore.

The kitchen door flew open, and even though Erin didn't turn around, she knew that it was Percy who was storming out of the house and down the dirt path to the gate near where Erin was sitting. He didn't seem to notice her watching him until he was out the gate and standing on the other side, past the property line of the Burrow, at which point he stopped and blinked rapidly, as if just having realized what he'd done. He clutched the suitcase in his hand tighter, looking from side to side.

"Erin?" Percy said in surprise when he saw her. His brow furrowed and he frowned, looking as if he were about to apologize. "I-"

"Oh, just leave it," Erin said without emotion, her face blank. "I've heard enough."

He gave her one last sad look, and with that, Percy was gone, and Erin was alone. A few minutes later, Erin felt a hand on her shoulder.

"Hey," Ron said quietly, "Mum wants you to come back inside. Says it's not safe out here."

"It's not safe anywhere, Ron," Erin told him matter-of-factly, not turning around. Ron slowly wrapped his arms around her and rested his chin on her shoulder. She gratefully leaned back against his chest, content in knowing that at least one of the people she trusted most was, for now, there to hold her up.

It really wasn't her fault. She hadn't seen him in so long, and she hadn't dared write to him, just in case the owl was intercepted. She had been wanting, needing, to talk to him for weeks now. There was, quite literally, no one else who would understand what she was going through at the moment. And it wasn't like there was anyone else she could talk to about it, because no one but them and Dumbledore knew about it.

So why it surprised anyone, as Professor Snape walked into the dining room in Grimmauld Place, she ran up and flung her arms around him, was a not a complete mystery.

"Miss Riddle," Snape drawled smoothly, going rigid in her embrace, "If you would be so kind as to let go of me?"

"Yes, sir, of course, sir," Erin said sheepishly, drawing away from her teacher and blushing bright red. Everyone in the room was staring at her questioningly, but she ignored their looks and sat down in her seat across from Ron. She glanced up at him and snapped, "What?", to which he just shrugged and looked back at his dinner.

Snape adjusted his robes and continued through the kitchen, apparently unruffled.

"The train leaves tomorrow," Hermione said offhandedly, trying to turn the attention away from Erin. "Have you all got your things ready?"

"I never actually unpacked," Erin confessed, "The sooner I'm out of here, the better."

"What, you don't like my house?" Sirius asked from down the table, smirking playfully. "That's alright, neither do I."

"I think it's nice here," Mrs. Weasley said, bustling in from the kitchen. "With all the cleaning up we've done, this place is as good as new."

"Right lot better than what Malfoy has brewing at his estate," Arthur interjected, spooning up potatoes from his plate. "Raids every weekend at that place, all the Dark artifacts he has hidden there." He looked pointedly at Erin. "I am just glad that you got away from that while you could."

"We are still friends, Uncle Arthur," Erin said with just the slightest hint of exasperation. "And he's perfectly nice. We Slytherins, however misunderstood, are people, too, you know." Molly gave her a pointed look, and she sighed. "I wish you could understand, Draco is not his father, just like-" She took a deep breath. "-just like I'm not mine."

There is was. Everyone was staring at her again. It was the first time she herself had given any real acknowledgement to Voldemort being her father.

"Well, I think that settles it, then," Sirius said with a forced smile. "We've got a little black sheep on our hands." He winked at Erin. "And we love her none the less."

Molly made a humph-ing sound of approval, and the situation seemed to be dropped after that. 'Thank you,' Erin mouthed at him down the table, and he sent a nod her way. She had never really imagined that Sirius, of all people, would stand up for her like that, and it made her like him just a bit more for it.

It was torture for Erin, having to see Draco there across the platform, and not be able to just run at him and throw her arms around him. Instead, she merely nodded politely in his direction. He nodded back, and Narcissa waved at her merrily. Erin repressed a wide smile, waving back. Molly turned around to see who she was waving at just in time for the Malfoys to be swallowed by the crowd, and for that, Erin was grateful.

"See you, Ron," Erin said the moment they stepped onto the train, patting his arm and flitting away to find Draco's compartment. Ron frowned but let her go. He hadn't seen her happy like that since school had gotten out- it wasn't like he was going to do anything to stop it.

There were more compartments than Erin remembered on the train, making it harder to find Draco than she would have liked. When she finally did find him, she stopped outside the compartment door with her hand on the handle, staring at him through the glass. He'd changed his hair again, just slightly, but enough that she noticed it (though no one else probably would). He seemed taller, even though he was sitting down and Erin couldn't really tell. He was still wearing one of those expensive suits his mother dressed him in, and it briefly crossed Erin's mind that they would have to make a trip to the clothes store in Hogsmead that sold muggle jeans. He desperately needed a pair.

Draco looked up from the book he'd been looking at and saw Erin staring at him through the compartment door with a goofy grin on her face. The smile he gave her in return was, he was sure, just as ridiculous. He stood and practically ran the two steps to the door, sliding it open and immediately drawing her into his arms.

"Missed you, love," He said, his face so close to hers that she could feel his breath stir the hairs that had escaped from her ponytail and were falling over her forehead.

"Missed you, too," She said, locking her arms around his neck and pressing her lips to his, falling back into the compartment with him.

There was no good way to start off the year, Erin decided, so she might as well start it off with a bang.

"He's right, Professor," Erin said rather dully, and all eyes in the classroom widened and were drawn from Harry to her. "My father is alive and well."

"Detention for you, as well, Miss Riddle," Umbridge said sweetly, and the tone made Erin want to slap her. Draco, as if guessing what she was thinking, kicked her under the desk. "For supporting Mr. Potter's outlandish claim."

"Oh, I'm not supporting him," Erin said rather snottily, "I was supporting my father's rights as a human being to be acknowledged."

"Detention!" Umbridge barked again. Harry turned around and gave her a look, probably trying to understand why she had referred to Voldemort as a 'human being'. She glared at him and he rolled his eyes, but turned away none the less. Thought she was being funny, Erin guessed.

"No, I don't think I will," Erin said flippantly, "I've got lessons with Professor Snape, you see. Remedial potions." That was a complete lie.

"I will have a word with Professor Snape," Umbridge said, "And we will see to it that your schedule is rearranged."

"Yeah, we'll see how that works out," Erin snickered, leaning back in her chair and crossing her arms over her chest defiantly. She thought that Umbridge's wand might snap in her grip.

"Erin," Draco hissed in her ear, "Quit it."

Erin just shook her head lightly and stared up at the ceiling. It was a bit of a concern that Umbridge would go for her exposed throat, but she ignored her instincts to lower her head. It was what she was supposed to be doing, right? Defying authority and talking about her father and all of that.

"Miss Riddle," Umbridge whispered dangerously, her tiny eyes popping out of her head. "Report to the Headmaster's office. Immediately."

Erin snorted. "Don't see that happening, ma'am. I'll gladly get out of this classroom, though."

Erin grabbed her bag off the back of her chair, stood up, and strutted out of the room. She didn't look around to see the reaction to her departure, and to keep her legs from shaking, she didn't stop walking until she reached Professor Snape's office. He wasn't there, but she promptly let herself in and laid down on the newly acquired couch (Erin had requested it, seeing as she spent so much time there, and as comfy as the leather chairs were, they got hot after a while).

An hour later, when morning lessons were over and Snape was looking forward to a calm, peaceful lunch in his office. He even had a small smile on his face when he sat down at his desk and opened up the book he had been reading when-

"I don't like all of this good-guy-being-a-bad-guy stuff."

The voice from the couch startled Snape so much that he tossed his book up, and it crashed back down on his desk and tip over his bottle of ink. Erin frowned when Snape closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

"You've spilled something, sir," Erin said helpfully, to which Snape responded by pinching the bridge of his nose with his thumb and forefinger.

"Is there something I can help you with, Miss Riddle?" Snape sighed, using a spell to mop up his desk. Erin threw her arm across her face dramatically.

"I mouthed off to Umbridge so she gave me detention," Erin confessed. "And then I told her that I couldn't go because I had remedial potions lessons with you. She said you'd work something out, so I said some things back and then walked out in the middle of class."

Snape sighed again. Merlin, help him.

"I will talk to Professor Umbridge," Snape said, and Erin could tell from his tone of voice that he didn't like the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, either. "And we will arrange something that works for all of us."

"When'd you get so compliant?" Erin asked, turning her head and raising her eyebrow at him.

"It would not do well to have people thinking you are suddenly getting preferential treatment because you are the Dark Lord's daughter," Snape snapped, and Erin smiled forlornly at him.

"Isn't that the point, though?" Erin said, "Isn't that what Dumbledore wants me to do? Use my status to get things, manipulate people, and then report back to him on what's going on?"

"Among other things," Snape said in a softer tone. "You have to learn to control yourself. Don't get yourself into trouble. Don't say things in favor of your father."

Erin snorted, "Yeah. That'll convince people I've switched to his side."

"Do it gradually," Snape advised, "You have to convince people that you are slowly changing your mind. No one will buy it if you all of the sudden go on muggle-hunting sprees-"

"I won't hunt muggles," Erin protested, "I draw the line at harming innocents like that."

"You will find," Snape said softly, fixing Erin with a look that chilled her, "That some things cannot be helped."

"That," Draco said the moment Erin entered the common room, hours after he'd last seen her in Defense Against the Dark Arts, "Was complete crap, Rin."

"That woman is evil," Erin tried to justify her actions, "Pure evil. She shouldn't be allowed to teach."

"Never mind that," Draco waved away her comments. "You can't keep drawing attention to yourself like that."

"I think that I don't get enough attention as is," Erin said, falling back into the couch and kicking off her shoes. "I'm the Dark Lord's daughter. That makes me like… what do they call the daughters of lords?"

"You'd be a Lady," Draco snorted, "And you're already my Princess. Why would you want to demote yourself like that?"

"Thought you supported You-Know-Who," Erin sighed happily as she cuddled close to Draco, making herself comfortable against his chest. He kissed the side of her head, and the gesture flooded Erin with warmth.

"Well, yeah," Draco said, but he sounded uncertain. "But I care about you a hell of a lot more than I care about him."

"How sweet you are," Erin tilted her head back and kissed Draco's neck, sliding her hand behind his neck. Her other hand traveled across his chest, where it encountered something cold and hard. She pulled her face away from his neck, examining the badge affixed to the front of his robes.

"What's this?" She asked, though she already knew. "You didn't tell me you're a prefect."

Draco shrugged. "With everything else you've got going, it didn't really seem important."

"Congratulations," Erin said with a smile, twisting her fingers in the hair at the nape of his neck. "Would you like to, ah- celebrate?"

In answer, Draco happily captured her mouth with his, all thoughts of You-Know-Who temporarily abandoned.

I just looked at the reviews for this story and-

Oh. My. Angel.

242.

You guys are freaking amazing :)

Thank you thank you thank you thank you!

I'm going to try really hard to get out one more chapter before Monday.

-Rachel