Erin met Dudley Dursley and his parents thirty minutes after she came to their house. Before then, she'd been excited. That feeling had changed into something else.

Like disgust.

Erin lay on her bed, waving one foot in the air and scribbling in her diary.

"Dear Diary," she wrote. "My very first day, and I'm already homesick. I'm stuck in a house full of lunatics. Mr. Dursley is a bore, Mrs. Dursley is a phony, and Dudley is a miniature whale who drools like a baby. Whether over his dinner or me I'm not sure. Please let it be his dinner."

Erin paused for a moment, chewing thoughtfully on her pen, then kept writing.

"The only decent person in the house as Harry, as the Dursleys treat him like dirt. Of course, they treat their son like royalty. Ugh! I gag every time I think of Dudley. But Harry's pretty cool. He actually has a pet owl! Isn't that neat? Her name's Hedwig. But when I mentioned her during dinner, the Dursleys looked like they were about to have a heart attack. I guess they don't like owls. I asked Harry about it later, and he was sort of vague. Something about that Hedwig was a birthday present from a guy named.Habid? Hagrid? Something like that. I can tell you right now, though, I'm going to need Harry if I'm going to survive this summer. If only to stay sane."

Harry poked his head around her doorframe. "Hey, Erin, want to come feed Hedwig with me?"

Erin grinned into his sparkling green eyes. "Wouldn't miss it for the world."

Desperately, Severus tried to persuade himself that Erin would be fine spending the summer with the Dursleys. After all, he thought to himself, she'll probably visit with that boy Dudley instead. Why would she be a friend with Potter?

And if that's so, why am I having such a hard time convincing myself?