"But Professor..." Harry pleaded standing in front of McGonagall with his permission slip for Hogsmeade. "I thought if you signed it then I could go." He reasoned to her, looking hopefully to be able to join his friends on the field trip.
"I'm sorry, Potter, but I can't. Only your parent or guardian can and since I am neither- It's probably better if you don't. That's my final word, Potter. I'm sorry." She went after the students.
Harry dropped his hands at his sides, watching as the students gathered and left. "Forget about it guys... See you later." He said to his friends.
Erin stopped. "You know, Harry, I could stay behind...it is just Hogsmeade..."
Harry shook his head slowly. "No, Erin." He said trying to smile. "You should go. I don't want you to miss out on the trip just because I couldn't get my Uncle to sign a stupid piece of paper." He looked at his friends. "Go." He insisted. "I can hear about it when you get back." He said trying to smile.
Erin hovered uncertainly and sighed. "Ok. We'll tell you about everything. You'll be able to go next time." She smiled and then hugged him. "But no moping around the castle, ok?" She was sounding like the old Erin again.
Harry hugged her back and smiled for real this time. "No moping." He agreed.
"You want me to bring you back something?" She asked. "I made some money tutoring..."
"If you want to. It's really not necessary." He said with a little shake of his head.
Hermione and Ron lingered a ways off where everyone was pouring out to go to Hogsmeade. "Erin? Are you coming?" She called.
"Just a sec!" She called back. "Go see Lupin or something, ok? I just won't have a good time if I think you're here bored."
Harry nodded, smiling. "I will." That was actually a good idea. He had wanted to talk to Professor Lupin since yesterday. "You better go... " He said. He saw Hermione and Ron waiting. Ron shifted impatiently.
"Coming!" Erin called to them. "Good." She hugged him again and hurried after them. She turned back waving.
Hermione waved to, looking a little sad to leave their friend behind. Harry just waved and watched them go off without him. He hoped they'd have fun even if he couldn't.
"So is he really disappointed?" Hermione asked as the trio went to rejoin the group. "I really wished McGonagall could've bent the rules just this once. You know if it was Dumbledore Harry would be here right now instead of stuck back there alone." She said with a definite shake of her bushy brown hair.
"He puts on a brave front, but-"Erin shrugged and glanced at Hermione. Neither she nor Ron had said anything about her and Harry speaking. Well they would talk when they were ready. She just hoped they wouldn't run into Malfoy, he was already mad enough at them.
Hermione sighed. "It's so unfair." She crossed her arms as they walked before her lips twitched with a smile. "I heard our Harry gave Draco a split lip today! Did you hear that Ron? I don't want to run into him, but I'm almost curious to see him just to see how swollen it is." She said with a giggle.
"Did you hear the circumstances?" Erin asked curiously. "I was there, by the way."
"No! What happened?" Hermione asked curiously. She had to hear this.
Erin blushed a little. "Well, Harry and I were talking...about stuff...and Malfoy came up with his little followers..."She paused. "Malfoy started to laugh and make fun of us, and well, Harry lost his temper at the remarks and hit him."
"Classic!" Hermione said cheerfully. Oh, she only wished she could have been there to see that evil, rude boy go down! "It's about time Draco got what he deserves."
"Yeah." Erin said absent-mindedly.
Ron looked from Hermione to Erin. "Well, Erin?"
"Well what?" Erin asked him.
"You and Harry!" He said exasperatedly.
"Yes!" Hermione chimed in, grabbing Erin's arm. "Erin! Tell us! What happened when you spoke to Harry? Is everything okay? It looked like it to me. So what did he say?" She asked.
Erin blushed. "Well, uh...you see..." Erin wondered how it could have possibly gotten so hot on an autumn afternoon. "Uh...we're ok, I guess. We didn't really discuss things...you know."
Ron gaped. "Does that mean what I think it means?"
Erin looked at Ron and wondered what on earth he was talking about. She looked over at Hermione. "I think that's exactly what that means." Hermione said agreeing with Ron and smiling at Erin.
Erin looked at them. "What are you two implying?" She demanded.
Hermione rolled her eyes a little. "Oh, come on, Erin. Things are just 'ok'? Or are they better than 'ok'?" She said teasingly.
Erin blushed. "I don't know about all that...he said he cared about me...but we didn't say anything about that. Fred and George came in, you know...and…well..."
"So... nothing happened then?" Hermione asked a little disappointed.
Erin blushed. "Well...he did punch out Malfoy and Fred and George threatened to kill him if he...uh...touched me..."
"Those two..." Hermione shook her head.
"Yeah." Erin rolled her eyes. "Oh, hey guys, Honeydukes." She said attempting to change the subject.
Ron glanced at Erin. "So you're telling us that you and Harry aren't a couple?"
Hermione looked at Erin just as expectantly as Ron did. She couldn't help herself.
"I told you we didn't discuss that...I don't know...at least he cares about me...I don't know, you know. We're friends, great friends. You'd have to ask Harry..." She finished lamely.
"Don't worry, Erin. I'm sure something good will come of it." Hermione said as they entered Honeydukes together. "Maybe we can get Harry a candy or something. What does he like?" She said this as she began browsing the vast amounts of sweets around them.
Ron and Erin both looked around. "How about some Fizzing Whizzbee's?" Erin asked. "They make you levitate..."
Ron snorted. "Yeah, and they are made from one of those little creature's stings, remember? From our Care of Magical Creatures book?"
Erin did a double take and looked at Hermione. "Hermione! Hermione! Did you hear what he said? Did you?"
Hermione nodded her head giddily. "Ronald! You mean you were actually paying attention to our lessons? You mean to tell us you read your book?"
Ron glared at them and looked at the display in front of him of the different flavors of chocolate.
Erin smiled. "We haven't failed, Hermione! This makes all those late night study sessions worth it!"
"Absolutely!" She had the urge to hug Ron it made her so giddy. After all they had only been trying for the last three years to get him to care about his studies. It was nice to know something was rubbing off finally and their efforts weren't in vane.
"And I mean besides all the flirting that went on..." Erin said casually as she picked through a barrel of animal candies.
"Who was flirting besides you with Harry?" Ron asked obliviously.
Erin opened her mouth and looked at Hermione. Hermione bit her lip and got very quiet, giving herself away to anyone who wasn't Ron. She picked up a green apple lollie and then a chocolate frog and then a started looking at the pre packaged boxes of every flavor jellybeans. Maybe Harry would like some of those.
Erin patted her friends' shoulder. "Well, Ron it looked to me like you were flirting with Hermione."
Ron looked at her and raised his eyebrow. "If I was I wasn't aware of it." He shrugged.
Hermione frowned a little to herself hearing this. Oh, he said it like it was nothing! Something he supposedly hadn't noticed had made her heart absolutely rise inside when it had happened. "Does Harry chew gum?" She asked eyeing the gumballs. No, of course not. "We've got to get him something really good." She said trying to ignore the previous subject now.
Erin looked at Hermione and whispered. "Does Ron usually act like this when we are talking about girl/boy stuff?"
She shrugged. "I can't remember." She said. He used to get a lot more freaked out by it, but they had been younger then. "Maybe he just doesn't care." She said.
"Hey, Ron have you ever intentionally flirted with Hermione?" Erin asked.
Ron got red. "Um...you know Zonko's is right next door and I'll, uh, meet you there." Ron ran out.
Hermione blinked. "Alright then...and why did you just do that?" She asked, looking at Erin in confusion.
"I wanted to know why Ron was acting so weird and I almost knew when he ran out." Erin sighed. "He always runs when I attempt to find things out from him."
She looked off the way Ron had disappeared and shrugged slightly. "Well... I'm going to pay for these." She said holding up the candy. "You might as well give up on Ron." She said. "He's too...He's...He's Ron." She said as she headed for the cashier to pay for and bag up the candies she was getting for Harry.
Erin sighed and picked up a slab of chocolate and hurried after her.
Harry and Remus were walking along the bridge between Hogwarts and Hagrid's hut just talking. "Professor, can I ask you something?"
"You want to know why I stopped you from facing that boggart, yes? I would have thought it was obvious. I assumed it would take the shape of Lord Voldemort."
"I did think of Voldemort, at first." Harry admitted. "But then I remembered the night on the train and the Dementor."
"I'm very impressed. That suggests what you fear the most is fear itself. This is very wise."
"Before I fainted I heard something. A woman…screaming." Harry said.
"Dementors force us to relive our very worst memories. Our pain becomes their power."
"I think it was my mum, the night she was murdered." Harry stood looking out across the land not looking at Remus.
"You know the very first time I saw you, Harry, I recognized you immediately." Remus smiled. "Not by your scar, by your eyes. They're your mother, Lily's. Yes. Oh, yes. I knew her." Remus went to the other side of the bridge and looked out. "Your mother was there for me at a time when no one else was. Not only was she a singularly gifted witch, she was also an uncommonly kind woman. She had a way of seeing the beauty in others even, and most especially, when that person couldn't see it in themselves. And your father, James, on the other hand he," Remus chuckled. "He had a certain, shall we say, talent for trouble." Remus stood by Harry again noting the grin on the boys' face. "A talent, rumor has it he passed on to you. You're more like them than you know, Harry. In time, you'll come to see just how much."
"Professor, there was something else I wanted to talk to you about…" Harry began.
"Erin?" Remus guessed. "Yes, when we were on the train I wondered if there was something between you two…your parents would have been thrilled." Remus laughed. "They were best friends."
"I didn't know that." Harry said. "Professor, what did you think when you saw…"
"Your dead body?" Remus asked. "I knew it was you from the first, Harry. Erin is a very, uh, emotion-driven young lady. I have heard many of the things that happened, of course. Erin's heart seems to be particularly attached to you."
"I think I have been blind all these years, Professor. I mean I don't know how I couldn't have spotted it. She just about gave her life for mine…"
"She is so like her mother, very emotion-driven. Do you know what I mean, Harry?"
"Yeah." Harry smiled. "Erin lets her heart tell her what to do, but she also listens to her mind. I don't think she would do anything without her conscience to be her guide."
Erin walked into the Great Hall and saw Harry sitting at the Gryffindor Table. She smiled and hurried over hugging him. "Harry! Did you have a good time with Lupin? We had fun and we made Ron embarrassed and stuff. We went to Honeydukes and Zonko's and the Three Broomsticks! Here, look what we brought you!" Erin emptied her bag in front of him saving something back.
"Yeah, the visit went just fine." Harry said as he looked at the great pile of various items and candies from their visit to Hogsmeade. He was surprised by it all. "Wow, you guys really didn't have to go to all the trouble." He said with a smile.
"Oh, please." Erin smiled. "We wanted to! And well here..." She handed him a hastily wrapped present.
Harry took it. "What is it?" He asked, looking back up at her.
Erin just smiled. "Open it!" She hoped he would like the little broom and Quidditch player statue that really moved that she got him.
Harry tore into the wrapping without anymore coaxing. Once unwrapped he was greeted by a small, but detailed statuette of a Quidditch Player with their broomstick and after a second it began to move, flying about as if in search of something. Harry grinned. "It's even a Seeker." He said sounding amused and happy with the little gift. "Where did you find it?" He asked curiously. "It's great!"
"I found it in one of those little shops off the main road. I couldn't believe it when I saw it! I knew right away that you would like it!" She grinned.
Ron looked from Harry to Erin. "So Harry, Erin said to ask you-"
Erin looked up. She had forgotten what she told them to ask Harry. She looked at Hermione while Ron looked to see if someone was going to stop him like always.
Harry looked expectantly at Ron and Hermione, wondering what he was to be asked. Hermione put a hand on Ron's arm. "Never mind Ron, it's not really important now." She said hoping to keep him from saying it.
"Hermione! Erin said to ask him! So how about it Harry-" Ron tried to get Hermione away from him. "Are you and Erin-? Hermione! Get off!" He said trying to get away.
Erin suddenly remembered. "Oh, Harry, it's nothing...really...Ronald!"
"Ron!" Hermione practically hissed. Harry could only look around in confusion wondering what all the fuss was about.
Ron got away and decided the best course of action would be for them not to hear so he whispered in Harry's ear...or tried to anyway with Erin and Hermione making so much noise he wondered if Harry had actually heard him.
"What Ron?" Harry asked. He couldn't understand him with all the commotion.
Erin lunged at Ron. "Ron, shut up!"
Ron swallowed. "But all I wanted to know is if you and Harry-" Erin put her hand over Ron's mouth.
"I said shut up!" Ron nodded and Erin got up. "Should we head back to the Common Room?"
"Let's. Please." Hermione said, hoping Ron wouldn't think about saying anymore.
Harry nodded, putting his gifts back into the bag so they could leave. "Let's go." He said.