"Does it hurt terribly, Draco?" Pansy Parkinson asked as she crowding around Draco with some others.

Draco sat back showing off his wounded arm. "It comes and it goes... I consider myself lucky… Another minute or two and I could've lost my arm." The four across the way at Gryffindors table stared in disgust as Malfoy milked the attention for all it was worth.

"How thick can you get?" Ron asked disgusted.

"I heard Draco's father is furious." Hermione said. "We haven't heard the last of this." She said just before someone came in shouting.

"He's been sighted! He's been sighted!"

"Who?"

"Sirius Black!" Seamus Finnegan said throwing a paper down on the table with the haunting image of Sirius's screaming face on the cover.

Erin's face suddenly went white...what if she had been wrong? What if he really was after Harry? She saw Hermione, Ron and Harry lean over and look at the paper but she could not move. "Dufftown?" Hermione asked. "That's not far from here."

Harry stared into the moving picture, as the image of the man seemed to look left and right screaming and every so often staring madly straight ahead. He could not help but feel a slight chill as he looked on with all the other students. "That's right Black could be anywhere. It's like trying to catch smoke. Like trying to catch smoke with your bare hands." Another student said whom he didn't take the time to identify. All he could do was stare. The whole time having no idea how terribly this news also affected Erin, as she stood frozen nearby.

Erin looked at them and couldn't stand it anymore. She jumped up and fled from the Great Hall.

Surprisingly it was Ron who followed her. He grabbed her arm. "What's going on with you?"

Erin opened her mouth and then shook her head. "No…Ron just leave it alone...just leave it alone!" She yelled at him and then ran off. He watched her go not knowing why she was acting the way she was. He had to tell Hermione and Harry...when they were alone.

Erin had gone on to class. She waited outside since she was pretty early and slid down the wall until she was sitting on the floor. She couldn't tell her own friends the truth...even though they had been through so much in the last few years. Why couldn't she tell them? Because, a voice said in her head, everyone knows your father is a murderer, they'd only despise you for it...just like Malfoy.

The door to the classroom opened, inviting students inside for their Defense Against the Dark Arts Lesson. But Remus Lupin was quite surprised to see the black haired girl sitting outside looking quite small and terribly lonely. He had expected a few early students, but something told him this was different. "Erin?" He asked, very softly, softer then perhaps he meant to as he stood over the girl. He moved to offer her a hand up. "You're quite early." He said slowly, wondering what it was she was thinking and perhaps if she would confide in him. It had been so long since he had last seen her. He remembered her as so much younger. My how she had grown! She was becoming quite the beautiful young girl and a talented witch so he heard. If only the father might be able to see how beautifully his child was growing up.

Erin looked up to see Remus and took his hand gratefully. "Hello, Remus." She paused as she stood and had to hold back tears. "They've sighted him you know, in Dufftown...that's not far from here."

He nodded, his eyes momentarily downcast. "Yes. I heard as much..." He said, thinking that old Sirius was not being very careful.

"I really didn't think he was coming after Harry...you know...I couldn't believe it...now I don't know what to think..." Erin looked at him noticing the scars that ran along his face.

He gently ushered the girl into the confines of the classroom. "There is no sure way to tell why exactly your-why exactly he is coming this way. It is only a nasty rumor that he his after Harry Potter and I don't generally believe a rumor until I hear it from the source. I'm sure his time in Azkaban has left him, well quite mad... he always was a bit you know, but I wouldn't lose faith in him just yet, child." He said, trying his best to reassure her.

Erin sighed. "You can say it, Remus. My father." She looked at him. "My father is Sirius Black and you are my godfather." Erin tried to gauge the look on his face with her words.

Remus sighed again. "Yes...true enough." He agreed smiling softly. "I'd be...very careful who I relieved that information to just yet...for your own safety of course..." He said, patting her shoulder affectionately. It seemed he was very good at hiding just how affective her words were. He couldn't be too open right now, least of all before the start of class.

"No one knows." She said. "Except the Slytherins and they have always known. I can't tell Harry, or Ron or Hermione. Do you know what that's like? Having a secret that you must keep from your friends?" From her tone it might have implied that she knew he did.

He stared at the ground a moment. "Yes...yes, Erin unfortunately I do." He had lived with that pain before, once in his life before he had allowed himself to trust his dear friends with such information. Looking down at her, he cleared his throat a bit as the loud chattering of students filled the hallway. The others were arriving for class. He tried to smile a little at the girl as he left her to Ron and Harry who were just now arriving for class with the large group of other students around them. Remus waited until the class had filled before he closed the door and he let them sit and wonder at the loud pounding inside the antique closet before he would speak from the back of the room. "Would anyone like to venture a guess as to what's inside?" He asked the room, walking through the crowd.

"That's a boggart, that is." Dean Thomas said.

"Very good! Now can anyone tell me what a Boggart looks like?" He asked.

"No one knows." Hermione said as if she had just appeared out of thin air.

"Where'd she come from?" Ron asked.

"Quiet, Ron." Erin said under her breath.

"Did you see her come in?" He asked.

"They take the shape of whatever a particular person fears the most." Hermione explained, ignoring the others. "That's what makes them so-"

"So terrifying yes, yes luckily a very simple charm exists that will repel a Boggart...let's practice it now…Oh! Without wands please! Repeat after me, Riddikulus!"

"Riddikulus." They repeated.

Remus smiled. "And again." The class repeated. "Riddikulus."

Malfoy rolled his eyes in the corner. "This class is ridiculous!" He complained, getting nods of agreement from his friends.

Erin wondered if Remus would hold it against her if she cursed Malfoy and claimed it was 'defense' against the dark arts. She whispered this to Harry.

Harry chuckled to himself and smiled at over at Erin.

"Very good…So much for the easy part." Remus was saying. "You see the incantation isn't enough, what really finishes a Boggart is laughter. You must force it into a shape you find truly amusing, now Neville? Will you join me please? Don't be shy, come on." Neville stepped forward cautiously. "Hello. Now Neville what frightens you the most?" Remus asked. The boy mumbled shyly. "Hmm. Speak up!"

"Professor Snape!" He said, causing the whole room to fall into giggling fits.

Remus smiled. "Professor Snape-yes, frightens all." He joked. "And I believe you live with you grandmother correct?"

Neville nodded. "But I wouldn't want it to turn into her either."

"No, it won't. Okay now I want you to picture her clothes, only her clothes." He instructed. He began to describe them and Lupin shook his. "We don't need to hear it. If you see them we will see them, now when I open this door..." He whispered something to Neville, which earned the Professor a strange look. "Can you do that?" Neville nodded. Before they knew it Professor Snape climbed out of the wardrobe, and seconds later, with the incantation was dressed in Neville's grandmother's clothing. The room erupted in laughter. Even Remus was laughing. "Wonderful, Neville. Wonderful. Everyone form a line!" Lupin called, setting the scene to music for the next student. "Next, Ron!"

Ron stepped forward and the Snape-boggart turned towards him and turned into a giant spider that resembled Aragog. Erin sighed when she saw that, she thought they had cured him of having spiders as his number one fear. Ron said. "Riddikulus." And the spider was suddenly on roller-skates!

The whole room exploded into laughter.

"Very good, Ron! Next! Parvati!" Remus called over the music and laughter.

Parvati Patil stepped forward the boggart turned into a giant cobra. She looked scared and timid. The said, "Riddikulus!" The snake turned into a bouncing clown!

"Next." Lupin said. "Erin!"

Erin came forward next trying to search her mind as to what scared her the most. She licked her lips as the boggart turned to her and she suddenly realized what scared her the most. The boggart transformed into a young man lying dead on the floor. Fortunately for Erin no one could see who it was. She searched her mind as to what it could turn into to be funny...she got it, she would turn it into Draco Malfoy. Erin raised her wand. "Riddikulus!" Unfortunately at the exact moment she said it her mind had a sudden image in it and instead of it showing Draco dead on the floor it showed Erin and Harry kissing. Erin was mortified, her hand over her mouth she turned looking at Harry and then ran out of the room amid much laughter and catcalling, especially from Draco and his cronies.

Well it had been funny...just not for her.

"Now! Now! Settle down!" Remus said trying to calm down the crowd of students. "Next!" Unfortunately it was Harry's turn and he was both amused, but mostly embarrassed by what he saw, though he just tried to grin and bear it until the Boggart took on a new shape. A shape that truly bothered him, the Boggart-Dementor loomed over Harry menacingly but before it could attack Remus leapt in front of the boy. "HERE!" The boggart quickly shifted to an image of the a full moon, cast over by wispy clouds and then "Riddikulus!" A white balloon blew itself out back into the wardrobe and the locks slammed shut. Class was unofficially over.

The others regrouped wondering about Erin. "I hope she's okay..." Hermione said, worriedly. She hadn't like the fact that everyone though that image was so funny!

"Yeah...me too." Harry agreed, no longer embarrassed, more like shaken after his boggart. "We should go and find her."

Ron suddenly got a smile on his face. "So Harry, what did you think of Erin's boggart?"

"Which part, Ron? The dead person or the part with the kissing?" Harry asked, really it wasn't something to take so lightly. In fact he'd never considered it before, but now he didn't think the idea of kissing Erin was...well...all that terrible. Not that he was about to admit it to Ron of all people.

Hermione sighed. "Really, Ronald! Grow up!" She said, walking out of the class ahead of the boys, in search of Erin.

Erin had gone to the one place she thought no one would find her. Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. Unfortunately she forgot that the boys would go in there. She had locked her self in a stall and Myrtle was actually surprised to see someone else as miserable as she was. Erin poured out the whole story to her and Myrtle was actually sympathetic.

"Erin?" Hermione called as she entered, her voice echoing off the bathroom tiles. "Are you in here?" She asked. Harry and Ron had followed but Hermione kept trying to shoo them away. The last two people Erin needed to see right now was Ron, who would make fun of her most likely without thinking first. Or Harry. It would only embarrass their friend more. "Go away!" She whispered, shooing at them, they backed up towards the door but didn't entirely leave, at least, not Harry. Ron was stuck behind him trying to get by to get a better view. "Erin?" Hermione stared at the feet under the door. "Please come out."

Erin called out. "Hermione, the entire school is going to know now! Not to mention Harry now knows that I like him! I can't believe this happened! What am I going to do? It's not bad enough that everyone is going to be staring and laughing but Harry will probably never speak to me again!" She wailed. "I have just embarrassed myself...far surpassing what anyone else in the history of Hogwarts has ever done."

Ok, she was being a little melodramatic...

"Oh, come now, Erin!" Hermione sighed. "Yes, it was embarrassing for you, I can only imagine, but the school will move onto something else soon and I know for a fact Harry will continue speaking to you. Why wouldn't he? I saw him myself and…he wasn't laughing at you." She explained. The boys finally left the bathroom quietly although Harry couldn't help but linger outside the door to listen.

Erin paused. "Hermione, just please tell me he isn't in here..." She swallowed.

"No. He isn't." Hermione said which was the truth; thankfully they had left as far as she knew. "They tried to follow me in but I wouldn't let them. Erin, he was worried about you. He was more worried about your feelings then anything else which is saying a lot since he faced his Boggart just after you and he saw a dementor. It was probably a good thing Professor Lupin stepped in when he did...but never mind that. Won't you come out and talk to me, please?" She asked, lingering in front of the closed stall door.

Erin sighed and drew back the lock. The door opened. "Ok...I have never been so embarrassed. Did anyone make the connection that it was Harry's dead body on the floor?" She asked anxiously.

Hermione was relieved to see her come out, but surprised by what she heard next. "It was? I didn't see. I don't think anyone saw anything until... after." But that would explain the look on the Professor's face when he saw her fear, Hermione thought to herself. She looked worriedly at Erin. "You're afraid of Harry dying?" She asked quietly.

Erin looked down and nodded. "You know all the stuff we do. Why do you think I was there with the Stone? Going after Harry...and with the Chamber of Secrets... pushing him out of the way of those rocks...I've always been afraid that he'd die. I don't think Harry even knew that I consciously put myself between him and danger...ok, yes, with the troll...I am sure he knew about the troll, after all I was knocked out when I got hit with the club. But Harry never really saw me there. I didn't mind. He was always after much more important stuff than me. I was just there to help him along the way and make sure he was safe..." Erin's voice went lower and lower until she wasn't speaking any longer.

"Oh, Erin..." It was all Hermione could say as she reached out to hug the other girl. She really truly cared about Harry, more seriously then Hermione had ever imagined and outside Harry realized this too and with that new information, he wasn't sure what to do, but the thought was astounding. He couldn't believe he'd never noticed it before now. How could he be so blind?

He stepped away from the door and snuck down the hall away from the bathroom quickly, hoping not to be there whenever the girl's slipped out. He had a lot to think about.

Erin sighed. "What exactly was Harry's reaction to all this? And what did Ron say? I can just imagine..."

Hermione had to roll her eyes. "Forget about Ronald." She always seemed to call him that when she was angry with him. "Harry, he just...I'm not sure really. He looked surprised at first and then he blushed a bit, but after that he was worried about you. Ron made some really idiotic comment to him and he practically bit his head off... it was kind of sweet actually." Hermione said with a little smile on her face. "Anyway, I can't be sure what he was thinking, but he didn't like Ron teasing you at all."

Erin nodded. "What am I going to do? I don't know if I can face either one of them...What would you do?"

"I would get some sleep...and see how I felt in the morning if I were you. But you know they would never be harsh to you, even Ron. We all care about you, Erin. We could never not be close to you." Hermione said, looking sympathetically at her friend. Of course she hated to even think about going back to the Gryffindor girl's dormitory after that class, but-oh blast them all! If they so much as giggled once they'd all be waking up bald in the morning. She'd teach them for laughing at her best friend.

"Hermione, I know I shouldn't be thinking about this...but what about Fred and George?"

Hermione blinked slowly. "What about them?" She asked. It seemed pretty clear where Erin's heart lied, and although she knew Erin didn't want to hurt the twins she highly doubted they would be affected for too long. Their affections would be passed on to other girls eventually. Before Erin they had to have lusted after someone.

"I just don't want to know what they would consider doing to Harry...you know when they find out."

"If they're half as smart as I hope they are. I don't think they'd do anything to him. Not if they knew how upset you'd be should they decide to pull some prank or something." She said to the best of her knowledge. She didn't think they would ever do anything Erin would disagree with. They adored her so.

Erin shook her head. "I must be crazy, you know. I have two great guys throwing themselves at me and I go after a guy, that well, everyone wants but seems very unattainable..."

Hermione smiled and had to shake her head as well. "Trust me...I can think of... much crazier girls than you. At least you have boys throwing themselves at you. I don't even have that much...It's not just because you're smart either…they're right you know when they bother you. You are very pretty, Erin. I think you are more and more every year." Hermione said kindly, but almost sadly. "A lot of the other girls are quite jealous. It's why some of them aren't very friendly. Beauty and brains." She explained to her.

Erin laughed. "Just wait, one of these days Ron will come to his senses."

"I suspect I'm crazy for caring." She said. "I think I hate him as much as I like him sometimes. He makes me so angry." She said.

Erin laughed. "I know, but that's Ron...you know I don't think I'll die of embarrassment anymore. I can take whatever they throw at me. Well, except coming face to face with Harry...I don't think I can manage that."

"Let's not worry about that today." Hermione said trying to keep the mood light. "I'm sure he's probably back to the dormitory by now. In fact we should definitely be going. You remember what Dumbledore said. We don't want to be caught on the grounds on our own, especially at night. Not while the Dementors are around. Come on." She said taking her friends hand. "We'll deal with the Potter problem tomorrow."